


Early Birds, Book 1: Liquid

by Caelum_Blue



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fire Nation Royal Family, Gen, Pre-Series, Water Tribe(s) (Avatar), take the timeline one generation back and three steps to the left
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 25,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caelum_Blue/pseuds/Caelum_Blue
Summary: In which Aang is discovered 30 years early by three Water Tribe teens, is chased by two Fire Nation princes, and has three decades to master the elements before the comet comes. Currently accepting prompts for Book 1: Liquid.This is an ongoing ATLA AU told through prompt meme format! First chapter contains important info on how it works!
Relationships: Hakoda/Kya (Avatar), Iroh/Iroh's Wife (Avatar), Ozai/Ursa (Avatar)
Comments: 119
Kudos: 118





	1. Here's How It Works

Welcome to Early Birds! This is one of those plotbunnies I’ve had for nearly a decade that I haven’t been able to write out. I always thought this one might be more fun if told in writing meme format. I already know a lot about the basic plot and various shenanigans, but I can’t commit to writing it all and I don’t want to flesh everything out myself - so that’s where you come in!

Readers are encouraged to submit prompts to help me make my way through this story. Prompts are meant to help me uncover the story hiding in my brain bit by bit. Feel free to ask about characters, events, or what might happen during the equivalent of a canon episode. You can submit prompts in the comments of any chapter on this fic, or you can submit them at this AU's dedicated Tumblr, <https://earlybirds-atla-au.tumblr.com/>. Answered prompts will likely be posted to the tumblr first before I migrate them over here, we'll see what's most convenient for me.

I make zero promises on how quickly prompts will be filled, I reserve the right to pick and choose which prompts I fill, and since this is me we’re talking about, standard disclaimer that I’ll probably fall off the face of the earth at some point. :P

Since I'm gonna be writing and posting this story out of order, you SHOULD NOT read it chapter by chapter (unless you want to read stuff out of order, that's cool, you do you). I will keep a list of links to all the answered prompts in order here in the first chapter and update it whenever I migrate another batch of prompts over.

* * *

**The Plot**

While on a routine fishing trip, Hakoda, Kya, and Bato find something even better than food - the Avatar! Freed from the ice 30 years earlier than in canon, Aang finds himself traversing the world with _three_ Water Tribe teens and being chased by _two_ Fire Nation princes, but fortunately there isn’t a one-year countdown to the comet anymore!

This story is meant to be simple fun and a lighthearted retelling, and I’m not in the mood to put a TON of thought into it, so the basic plot will follow that of ATLA and events will be mirrored, but with different characters dealing with the situations.

**Dramatis Personae (and ages!)**

**The Gaang**  
Aang (12/82)  
 _An Avatar who is just slightly less out of time and place than he was in canon._

Hakoda (15), Kya (15), and Bato (15)  
 _Three friends who were just trying to catch some fish._

Hama (40-50-something idk)  
 _An escaped Waterbender in desperate need of a therapist._

 **The Princes & Co.**  
Prince Ozai (16)  
 _This was just supposed to be a coming-of-age-trip._

Prince Iroh (40)  
 _Dragon of the West and defender of herbal teas._

Admiral Jeong Jeong (40)  
 _Currently juggling Fire Nation conquest, the hunt for the Avatar, and stopping his student from burning things._

Cadet Zhao (16)  
 _No self-control, and also no real rank._

 **The Rest of the Fire Nation Royal Family**  
Fire Lord Azulon (70)  
 _Great, like the war wasn't bad enough, now he has to worry about the Avatar for real._

Princess Janya (40)  
 _Currently too busy being a mother to be much of a war criminal._

Prince Lu Ten (2)  
 _Adorable toddler who has yet to develop into a nationalistic little shit._

Soon-To-Be-Princess Ursa (16)  
 _Businesswoman, theatre patron, and Ozai's fiance._

 **AND MANY MORE...**  
Take a character from canon.  
Age them back ~30 years.  
Have they been born yet?  
Then I'm probably going to find some way to get them in on this mess.

(Note: I am _really_ not sticking to my own headcanons on ages. Agebending abounds!)

* * *

**Book 1: Liquid**

[The summer solstice, what happened there?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54732928)

[How was Ozai sent to search for the Avatar? If Azulon doesn't believe in Aang's discovery, was it a punishment?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54701005)

[how does aang meeting the water tribe... trio, go?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54701062)

[Does Aang have a crush like he did with Katara?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54768904)

[What brings Hakoda, Kya and Bato to follow Aang to the North Pole?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54701095)

[If Iroh leaves Nanyue to offer aid to his brother, do the other high ranked military people in Nanyue remain there or.. Follow him?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54701116)

[So uh, did Iroh marry Janya? Did they have time to have Lu Ten in this version?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54701134)

[ What are the dynamics like between the water tribe trio? And what's their relationship with Aang like? ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/55819006)

[ Do they go to Omashu and meet Bumi? ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54832693)

[Did Aang still get to have an adventure into the spirit world and meet Hei Bai?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/55928965)

[Swords! Ursa?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/55860085)

[How did the group meet Hama?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54818092)

[The kids have the first news of the tribe Hama’s heard in decades](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/55907296)

[The kids come down with a bad case of Never Meet Your Heroes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/56270290)

[ Are we going to get any perspective on what the Southern Water Tribe says about the Northern in this time period? ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54741772)

[Honestly there are 3 ways the pirates scene can go and I can’t commit to any of them](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54701191)

[Obviously Zhao hasn't been to Wan Shi Tong's library yet, so... what will be replacing the Moonslayer Incident?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/56200396)

[everyone collectively deciding to skip the Great Divide](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/56213380)

[How does the Blue Spirit go in this AU?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54722191)

[Who's this universe's equivalent of Jet?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885882/chapters/54902287)


	2. How was Ozai sent to search for the Avatar? If Azulon doesn't believe in Aang's discovery, was it a punishment?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> submitted by anonymous

“I expect you to  _ make the most of your time,” _ Azulon told his secondborn.

Ozai didn’t even bother to look at him, instead staring up at the ship that was going to be sailing him across the seas. “Yes, Father,” he huffed, tone  _ just bordering _ on disrespectful.

Azulon’s eyes narrowed. “Need I remind you that by your age, your brother had conquered  _ two _ Earth Kingdom cities?”

“You have reminded me, Father.”

“And for that matter, when  _ I _ was your age, I’d driven the Northern Water Tribe into hiding, conquered the Hu Xin provinces - ”

“ - killed a dragon, and survived five assassination attempts, yes, Father,  _ I know.” _

Azulon scowled at his insolent offspring. “I want you to understand that this is  _ not _ a vacation.”

“Iroh treated  _ his _ Avatar hunt like a vacation.”

“Iroh  _ deserved _ a vacation. I expect  _ you _ to mind your studies, continue your training, make some allegiances in the military and our colonies, learn about the world that will one day be in our family’s keeping, and perhaps, if you’re feeling  _ particularly _ overachieving, conquer something while you’re at it. Do you think you can handle that?”

Ozai opened his mouth to say something that was probably going to be impudent, only to be cut off by a shout from down the dock. “Ozai!”

They turned to find Janya running towards them, a retinue of desperate servants and Ursa trailing after her.

“Oh good,” Janya gasped as she reached them, “I was worried maybe you’d left and I decided I wanted to see you off - ”

“My lady!” one of the servants exclaimed, grabbing Janya’s arm when she teetered a bit.

“Janya!” Azulon and Ozai said at the same time.

“I’m fine!” she insisted, brushing the servant and their concerns off. Ursa still stationed herself beside her future sister-in-law, unobtrusively present, just in case. “It’s just a brisk jog! Nothing to worry about! Here, Ozai dear, I brought you something.” She snapped at one of the servants, who handed her a pile of cloth.

“Ah...thank you?” Ozai said when Janya held it out to him. “That...looks like a very heavy cloak.”

“It’s for the poles, silly,” Janya said, pushing it into Ozai’s arms. “You have to stay  _ warm.” _

“I’m a Firebender, Janya,” Ozai sniffed.

Janya looked amused. “It gets  _ very _ cold at the end of the world, little brother.” She tweaked his nose.

Ozai grimaced. “Janya  _ please,” _ he said, shooting an embarrassed look towards Ursa.

“Oh, I’m going to miss you,” Janya cooed, and she enveloped him in a tight hug. “Write often! And please stay safe!”

“I will, I will,” Ozai promised, failing to extricate himself from her grasp.

“Janya,” Azulon sighed, “please stop spoiling him.”

“Oh honestly, Father, it’s just a bit of affection - ”

“I think your son wants you,” Ozai said. Lu Ten, held in a servant’s arms, had helpfully started to fuss.

Janya released Ozai to scoop up her own son. “Say goodbye to your Uncle Ozai, Lu Ten.”

Lu Ten flailed an arm at Ozai. “Bah!”

“...Goodbye,” Ozai answered.

Janya snickered. “You’ll have to become more comfortable with babies, Ozai,” she tutted. “After all,  _ you’re _ going to have some one day!”

Ozai and Ursa both blushed. “I need to leave,” Ozai managed, whirling around toward the gangplank.

“Say goodbye to your betrothed, first!” Janya ordered.

“Ah - goodbye, Ozai,” Ursa said, still flushing. “And good luck!”

Ozai stared up at the sky. “Goodbye, Ursa. Thanks.”

“All of you get out of my harbor,” Azulon grumbled.


	3. how does aang meeting the water tribe... trio, go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> submitted by anonymous

As wakeup calls went, Raava had experienced nicer ones.

“COME ON, KID, BREATHE!”

Well, it wasn’t the first time this had happened, at least. Kyoshi had nearly drowned in childhood when Unagi had dived too deep with her once. Granted, that water had been warmer, and Kyoshi hadn’t been exhausted from spending Koh-knew-how-long in a submerged iceberg that was slowly falling apart…

The pounding on Aang’s chest hadn’t stopped yet. “BREATHE, KID!”

Something poked Aang’s head. “Kya I don’t think he’s human - ”

“HAKODA WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS!”

“HE’S GLOWING, KYA!”

Raava gave Aang’s lungs a nudge, and her Avatar suddenly started coughing, hacking up the water he’d inhaled. He’d live, Raava thought, sinking back into his subconsciousness, taking her glow with her.

“Y’know,” came a third voice, “even if he’s not  _ human, _ I really don’t want to know what the consequences would be if we let a  _ spirit _ die.”

Well, Raava thought, he certainly wasn’t wrong about _that._


	4. What brings Hakoda, Kya and Bato to follow Aang to the North Pole?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> submitted by Raff

After the fires were put out and the remaining tents salvaged and everyone accounted for - miraculously, no one had  _ died _ \- Bato found Hakoda and Kya loading the bison up with supplies. “What are you two  _ doing?” _

“Going after Aang,” Kya said matter-of-factly. “Go grab your stuff.”

“We literally just survived a Fire Nation raid,” Bato said, “and you want to go attack them  _ back?” _

“They  _ have Aang.” _

“So we’re going to rescue him somehow? How are we supposed to rescue him? That guy was a  _ Fire Nation Prince. _ We’re lucky he didn’t kill us all!” Honestly they were lucky they’d only been here, in their little hunting camp instead of back at their tribe’s actual home base that was more of a town. They were lucky that all the warriors were currently out hunting instead of here at camp, and they were lucky that the lack of actual threats had caused Prince Ozai to dismiss them as not worth his time. 

They were lucky that Aang surrendered himself before the Fire soldiers burned the whole camp down out of boredom. 

“I know it’s dangerous, but he’s the Avatar. We have to  _ try,” _ Kya said.

“You’re absolutely right,” came another voice.

“Mom!” Hakoda said, whirling around to give her a hug. “How’s everyone else? Are - ”

“Everyone’s fine, just a few singes,” Kanna said, squeezing him tight. Then she pulled back and eyed him, Kya, and Bato in turn. “Kya’s right, though. Aang must not be taken by the Fire Nation.” She looked out over the ice to the sea beyond. North, Bato realized. She was looking north. “He’s brought  _ hope _ back to this world, and we can’t have that hope end so soon. He’s going to need friends. Guidance.”

“A waterbending teacher,” Kya said.

“Yes,” Kanna said, nodding somberly. “That too. It’s such a shame that…” She trailed off, and after a moment Hakoda reached for his mother’s hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. Kanna blinked out of her reverie and smiled sadly at him. “Yes, well, nothing we can do about the past. But the future? That boy is the Avatar, and you three found him. Now your destinies are intertwined with his.”

Oh, Bato did  _ not _ like the sound of that. 

“So we rescue him, and then what?” Hakoda asked. “Take him north?”

“The Northern Tribe had no shortage of waterbenders, last I checked,” Kanna said with a slight smirk.

Hakoda smirked back and Kya nodded seriously, but Bato could only sigh. “Why do our destinies have to be so impractical?”

Kanna raised an eyebrow. “You want something more practical? Very well.” She patted the bison’s leg. “We leave the boy where he is and allow the Fire Nation to destroy the world’s best chance for peace, slaughter this beast and turn it to jerky, last out the coming winter, and when the Fire Nation comes back to wipe us out for good in a month or a year or a decade, we can rest easy knowing that at least we didn’t work  _ too _ hard before our time came.”

Bato groaned. “Okay, okay. How are we supposed to rescue him?”

“Together,” Kya said, clambering up on the bison.

“That...doesn’t really answer my question - ”

“Go get your stuff.”

Bato huffed and ran back to what remained of his tent, grabbed his weapons, tools, spare clothes, and other assorted odds and ends, and made his way back to the bison. Kya was checking things up in the saddle, and Hakoda was having a quiet talk with Kanna that Bato could make out as he drew nearer.

“ - coming with us, Mom?”

“My place is here,” Kanna said gently. “We’re going to have to break camp and get out of this region as quick as we can, and the tribe’s going to need me. Also  _ someone _ has to explain to your parents where you three have gone.”

“Anyone else can do that! Mom, you’ve traveled across the world before - don’t you think it’d be more helpful if you - ”

“You know traveling across the planet was a very good character-building experience that I’m glad I did by myself,” Kanna interrupted him. “I think you’d benefit most being able to grow as your own person by yourself, hm?”

“But wouldn’t you like to go back north? See your home?”

“This  _ is _ home, Hakoda,” Kanna said gently. “I’m going to take care of our people. You take care of the Avatar.”

“...I’m gonna miss you, Mom.”

“I’ll miss you too. But...here. Something you can take with you to remember me by.”

Bato was tossing his stuff up to Kya, but he caught a glimpse of what Kanna handed off to Hakoda - a blue necklace, sealskin ribbon and a disc of moonstone carved with the waterbending symbol.

“It might come in handy,” Kanna added with a sing-song as she closed Hakoda’s hand around it.

_ “Mom!” _ Hakoda yelped, and she laughed. “That’s - we’re  _ Southern _ Water Tribe - Where did you even  _ get _ this?”

“Everything’s packed up and ready to go!” Kya shouted down at them. “You boys coming or what?”

“Coming, coming,” Hakoda said, giving Kanna one last hug before clambering up onto the bison.

“I still don’t understand what our plan is,” Bato said. 

“Oh come on, Bato,” Hakoda grinned down at him from his place atop the bison’s saddle. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Where’s your sense of responsibility?” Kya added.

“I would just like to have it noted that this is a  _ terrible _ idea,” Bato sighed, and he climbed up into the saddle and sat down beside Hakoda. Kya was on the bison’s head, mimicking Aang as best she could with the reins. “Okay, what was it Aang said? Yeehaw? Wahoo? Uh...mush?”

“Oh, by the way,” Kanna said, “Hakoda, if you meet a fellow named Pakku in the Northern Water Tribe, that’s my ex-fiance. I’ll leave it up to you how much you want to tell him about anything concerning me.”

“WHAT?”

“Yip-yip?” Kya tried, and Appa suddenly took off.

“KYA TURN AROUND I NEED TO ASK MY MOTHER WHAT THAT WAS ABOUT!”

“No can do,” she snapped back. “You should’ve gotten all your dark family secrets out of the way  _ before _ we headed off on a high-stakes mission to rescue the Avatar!”

“Still not sure how we’re doing that, by the way.”

“We’ll figure it out, Bato! Together!”


	5. If Iroh leaves Nanyue to offer aid to his brother, do the other high ranked military people in Nanyue remain there or.. Follow him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> submitted by Raff

Ozai stalked off his ship and down to the dock, practically fuming. He refused to turn around to survey the damage. Who could have thought a mere  _ child _ capable of such destruction?

At least they were in port now, where they could get repairs and stop worrying about things like the hull giving out and the entire ship taking them to the bottom of the icy sea. Ozai was more than willing to turn the mess over to the shipwrights in favor of going to plan his next move. He needed a new ship and a cup of coffee and to check and see if there was another letter from Ursa -

Someone whistled. "What happened to your ship?"

Ozai whirled around to find the speaker.  _ “Zhao?” _ The other teen was staring up at what was left of Ozai’s ship, looking grudgingly impressed. He was a bit taller than he'd been when they'd last met, and the sides of his face had sprouted a poor excuse for sideburns, but it was Zhao alright.

And if Zhao was here, that meant Admiral Jeong Jeong wasn't far behind, and where Jeong Jeong was...

"Brother!"

...Iroh was bound to be there, too.

"What are you doing here?" the younger prince demanded. Last he'd heard, Iroh had been making arrangements to wipe Nanyue off the map.

"I came as soon as I heard the news!" Iroh answered. "I am  _ not _ going to let my little brother go up against the Avatar alone!"

Ozai stared at him. “What?”

“I’m here to help! Together, we will hunt down the Avatar and put an end to the greatest threat against our nation!” Iroh looked way too pleased with himself, the way he did when he swapped Ozai’s coffee beans out for tea leaves, or when he thought he’d managed to trick Ozai into babysitting Lu Ten.

“What? No!” Ozai snapped. “This is  _ my _ mission! You can’t just cut in!”

“It’s not a mission, it’s a coming-of-age trip that’s turned out to be more than we thought it would be,” Iroh said flatly. “Also, it’s the  _ Avatar. _ The Fire Nation’s number one enemy. Your sister-in-law would  _ kill me _ if I left you on your own against him!”

“Janya needs to realize that I can handle myself,” Ozai grumbled. He noticed that Zhao was politely staring at something that was not him or his brother, but was doing a poor job of hiding his insufferable smirking.

“Oh, don’t worry brother, I’ll let you handle yourself - with supervision!”

_ “Ugh.” _

“Whenever you two are done with your fraternal bickering, the tea’s ready.”

Ozai looked away from Iroh to see that Zhao had been joined by Admiral Jeong Jeong, who was looking between Iroh and Ozai with a completely unamused look.

“Excellent!” Iroh beamed. “Come, brother, we must go strategize!”

Ozai glowered at Iroh’s retreating back. “What kind of tea?”

“Ginseng,” Jeong Jeong said. At Ozai’s groan, he added, “The coffee is ready as well.”

“Admiral,” Ozai said, “you are a gift to this world.” And he headed after Iroh.

Behind him, he heard Jeong Jeong stop Zhao.  _ “You _ are going to go to the top of  _ that _ watchtower and work on your breathing exercises.”

_ “What?! _ But that’s all I did all morning!”

“It takes a long time to learn patience.”

Ozai smirked to himself as Zhao grumbled away. Iroh looked over his shoulder, saw what he assumed was his little brother in a good mood, and grinned. “Do not worry, brother! Together, we’ll find a way to defeat the Avatar! I’m going to need you to tell me  _ everything _ about your encounter with the old menace.”

“Well, to begin with,” Ozai said, “he’s twelve.”

Iroh stopped in his steps and turned around, blinking. “Twelve?”

“From what I understand there was a magic iceberg involved.”

Iroh looked from Ozai back to the ruin of his ship. “A twelve year old did  _ that?” _

“Completely unsurprising,” Jeong Jeong hummed as he caught up with them. “Even twelve-year-olds can be destructive forces, given their lack of control. You should’ve seen the messes Zhao was making before I took him as my student.”

“Well, no matter,” Iroh said. “We have two Fire Princes, Admiral Jeong Jeong, and an entire fleet of  _ Imperial- _ class ships! We’ll defeat the Avatar, I’m sure of it!”

“If you’re all here,” Ozai said, “who’s invading Nanyue?”

“The Avatar is our priority.”

“So...no one then.”

“We have troops stationed to monitor the situation and combat anything that might happen, but for now the Trungs are keeping quiet and the Avatar is the main threat.”

“Does Father know we’re procrastinating on Nanyue again?”

“I’m sure he’ll agree with my reasoning whenever he learns of it.”


	6. So uh, did Iroh marry Janya? Did they have time to have Lu Ten in this version?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> submitted by Raff

The news was delivered during dinnertime by a flushed and nervous lieutenant who looked like he was about to faint - whether because of how he’d obviously run all the way from the messenger hawks’ roosts or because he was interrupting the Fire Lord’s family dinner, Janya couldn’t say. It had to be important, she supposed, but her focus was entirely on her toddler son, trying to get him to eat his food instead of smearing it all over his clothes. Azulon kept reminding her that they had  _ servants _ who could do that for her, but Lu Ten was Janya’s pride and joy and she’d nearly died giving birth to him, dammit, she was  _ going _ to be  _ all over _ every aspect of this kid’s life, and if that meant getting mashed mango on her fine silk, then fine, whatever, it wasn’t like she didn’t have  _ more. _

“Well, out with it then,” Azulon snapped at the man, “what’s so important you have to deliver it right this second?”

The lieutenant took a shaky breath and gasped out, “Prince Ozai found the Avatar at the South Pole.”

Janya would forever be grateful that she’d been in the middle of attempting to spoon mashed fruit into Lu Ten’s - all she did in her shock was drop the food into his lap, where it blended in with the rest of the mess he was making of himself. Young Ursa was not so lucky - the poor girl choked on her tea.

Azulon was deathly still. “Ozai found the Avatar,” he repeated.

“Yes, Fire Lord.”

“Ozai.”

“Yes.”

_ “Ozai.” _

“Yes…?”

“Well that  _ is _ the purpose of his current trip, Father,” Janya reminded him. 

“No one’s  _ ever _ found the Avatar on those coming-of-age trips!”

“My little brother just did,” Janya said primly.

“What’s the Avatar’s status?” Azulon demanded. “Who even  _ is _ the Avatar?”

“A surviving Air Nomad, it seems, sir. And he’s...alive and escaped,” the lieutenant said, wincing.

Janya felt a thrill of fear run through her, but before she could ask, Ursa piped up for her. “And Prince Ozai?”

“Alive, though his ship is in need of repairs. Prince Iroh is planning to meet him at port in the Southern Isles.”

Janya took a moment to thank Agni for that mercy. Azulon frowned. “Iroh,” he said, “is supposed to be going to  _ Nanyue _ to observe the current situation and strategize.”

“The prince...thought it’d be more prudent if he assisted his brother instead, my lord,” the servant said, wincing.

Azulon groaned. “Let me guess,” he said, “he’s also going to take all the troops, supplies, and ships we’ve been  _ planning _ to use in Nanyue...and use them to hunt down the Avatar instead.”

The lieutenant glanced warily at the message in his hand. “Well, he hasn’t said as much  _ exactly, _ sir…”

“I know my son, lieutenant!” Azulon snapped.

“Father,” Janya said. “As much as I’d like to crush Nanyue...I do think we need to refocus our efforts on the Avatar. He’s had seventy years to prepare to face us, he must surely be a force of nature by now. Ozai is going to need his brother’s support in this mission, and we  _ cannot _ allow the Avatar to rally the rest of the world against us.” Her grim statement was somewhat marred by Lu Ten smearing mango juice over her cheek. “No sweetie, Mommy’s busy being serious right now,” she cooed.

Azulon sighed. “You’re right, daughter,” he said. “I just wish we could take care of Nanyue once and for all… It’s almost as though every time I’m prepared to thoroughly annihilate the region, something pops up and stops me from going through with it!”

Janya gave him a commiserating nod. Last time they’d made plans to wipe out Nanyue, she’d gotten pregnant, and then she’d nearly died, and...well, they’d put Nanyue on the back burner for a while. Looked like it was time to do that again.

“But the Avatar  _ is _ our priority,” Azulon acceded, and he gave a sharp laugh and slammed his hand down on the table. “HA! That’ll show the damn Trungs! They’re not  _ that _ important!”

Lu Ten giggled and started slamming the table himself, multiple times. Azulon gave his grandson a proud look before turning back to the lieutenant. “Lieutenant! Spread the word. The entire military must be on high alert, and be sure that my sons lack for nothing in their mission. I want the Avatar dealt with swiftly and severely. The old man won’t be able to hide for very long.”

“Yes sir!” the lieutenant saluted, and then he hesitated, looking back down at the paper in his hand. “Uh...and according to this, the Avatar is a twelve-year-old boy.”

“WHAT?” Janya yelped.

“Oh for the love of - ” Azulon began, and he put his face in his hands. “If Ozai cannot defeat a twelve-year-old, I’m disowning him.”

“FATHER!”

“We’ll keep Ursa of course - I’m joking Janya, that was a terrible attempt at a joke!”


	7. Honestly there are 3 ways the pirates scene can go and I can’t commit to any of them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not a prompt, one of my original concept scenes for this AU. I still don't know which is canon, lol.

I.

“Tell us where the Avatar is,” Prince Ozai said, “and we won’t hurt you or your friends.”

“Go jump in the river,” Kya snapped back.

Prince Iroh smiled genially, like he thought her defiance was funny. Prince Ozai just gave her a sullen glare. “Listen here you little water rat - ”

“Now brother, that’s no way to speak to a lady!” Prince Iroh chided.

“Says the guy who had the lady tied to a tree,” Kya muttered under her breath. The princes didn’t notice - Ozai was too busy glaring at Iroh, and Iroh was too busy smiling back at Ozai.

After a moment, Ozai sighed. “Alright,” he huffed. “Fine. Listen, I know this is probably too much for a simple peasant like yourself to comprehend - ”

Kya raised an eyebrow.

“ - but the Avatar presents a major threat to the world’s stability, and one way or another we are  _ going _ to take care of him. It’s your choice whether we take care of  _ you _ as well. Or, if you cooperate…well, we can be merciful.”

“So I’ll get  _ cushions _ in my prison cell?”

Prince Ozai took a deep breath, and then he plastered on a terribly fake smile that had Prince Iroh beaming proudly. “Alright,” he said. “How about an exchange? As a token of good faith, here - ”

And Kya didn’t hear the rest of what he said, because she  _ saw _ the thing he was pulling out of his pocket - blue sealskin ribbon, etched moonstone and  _ oh sweet spirits _ \- “NO!” she screeched.

Prince Ozai fumbled to a halt in whatever he’d been saying, blinking at her. Even Prince Iroh looked perturbed. “Uh - what?”

“NO! NO I WILL NOT MARRY YOU, A THOUSAND TIMES NO, OH MY SPIRITS WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING - ”

_ “What?” _ Prince Ozai gaped.

Prince Iroh plucked the necklace from his brother’s hand. “Ah,” he said. “Yes, this is indeed a betrothal necklace.” He slapped his brother on the back. “Well brother, you sure can pick them!” he said with a grin.

“I AM BETROTHED!” Prince Ozai shouted.

“You’re a creep  _ and _ a cheater?” Kya shrieked.

“MOTHER OF AGNI - ”

* * *

II.

Ozai pulled the necklace from his pocket and dangled it in front of the Water Tribe boy.

Hakoda - Ozai was 80% certain this one was Hakoda - paled. “Oh my moon - ”

“Yes, I’ve had your girlfriend’s necklace this entire - ”

“SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!” Hakoda yelped, and he hung his head. “And it’s not hers!”

Ozai paused. “Oh. Well then. If you want  _ your _ necklace back - ”

“It’s not mine either, it’s my mom’s - ” Hakoda broke off with an exasperated groan.

Ozai blinked a few times. Iroh reached over and took the necklace from him. “Your mother has very good taste!”

“No she doesn’t - I mean yes, she  _ does _ , but it’s complicated and she gave it to me to give to - ugh! Can we just…skip all this and you guys can just kill me please?”

“Unfortunately we’d prefer to keep you alive,” Iroh said cheerily.

“I cannot  _ believe _ this is happening,” Hakoda grumbled.

Neither could Ozai, in all honesty.

* * *

III.

“Cooperate, and you’ll get  _ this _ back.”

Bato paused in his attempts to find a weak spot in the rope around his wrists and stared at the betrothal necklace dangling in front of his face. The same betrothal necklace Kanna had given Hakoda before they’d left. The betrothal necklace Hakoda had lost the other week and spent days whining about because for some reason he thought he needed it to make his intentions towards Kya clear.  _ That _ betrothal necklace.

Which the Fire Prince was waving in front of Bato in what he probably thought was meant to be a tantalizing manner.

“Oh my spirits,” Bato said.

“Do you accept my proposal?” Prince Ozai asked.

Bato stared at him. Then he stared at the betrothal necklace. Then he looked over Prince Ozai’s shoulder at Prince Iroh, who was smirking in such a way that Bato knew meant he knew  _ exactly _ what the berothal necklace was and  _ exactly _ the cultural mess his brother was making of himself. Then he looked back at Prince Ozai.

“Oh my spirits this is so awkward,” he said. Prince Ozai stared at him, and Bato continued, “You have  _ no idea _ how awkward this is and it’s just making it even more awkward.”

Prince Iroh snickered, and Ozai shot a brief glare over his shoulder before looking back at Bato. “Do you want this or not?”

“Why the heck would I want my idiot best friend’s mom’s ex-fiance’s failed betrothal necklace? I’m not even from the Northern Tribe!”

_ “What?” _


	8. How does the Blue Spirit go in this AU?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by jedimasterjaina.
> 
> Some of my basic headcanons you ought to know for this one:
> 
> Fire Lady Ilah was a member of the Yu Yan Archers
> 
> Love Amongst the Dragons is the Fire Nation’s lesbian version of The Princess Bride, with a dragon emperor and empress and water spirit thrown in. I ignore the retconned cultural homophobia the comics gave us.
> 
> Ursa happily decided that YEAH she would jump at the chance for a royal life and accepted Azulon/Ozai’s proposal without fuss. I tend to disregard most aspects of The Search but I do keep some of the worldbuilding it gave us.
> 
> Also I made up Iroh's cousin Jyoti for a one-off joke in Eye on Target, I was not expecting her to show up again here but characters do what they want.

“I say we bring in the Yu Yan Archers,” Zhao said, with all the bluster of an untested sixteen-year-old cadet growing up in a nationalistic society that believed themselves superior.

Jeong Jeong arched an eyebrow. “The Yu Yan Archers,” he repeated to Iroh.

“Hm,” said Iroh, and he sipped his tea.

“I’m certain they could take down an Airbender child easily, Avatar or not,” Zhao elaborated. “Their aim is  _ legendary. _ They’ve proven themselves capable of hitting targets even in hurricane-force winds!”

“Mm-hm,” said Iroh, pouring more tea for himself and Ozai. Ozai glowered at the cup.

“They say Fire Lady Ilah could pin a parakeet-beetle to a tree at fifty paces without killing it.”

Jeong Jeong stifled a wince. He  _ really _ had to work on his student’s tact.

Iroh hummed. “She could,” was all he had to say on the matter. Fire Lady Ilah, while not a sore subject per se, was still...well. One did not use her in a self-serving argument one was making to her sons, particularly the son whom she’d died giving birth to. Ozai had turned his glower from his teacup to Zhao. Zhao either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“So, we should call in the Yu Yan Archers,” Zhao said, with a decisive nod.

“A good idea, Cadet, but unfortunately one we cannot enact at this time,” Iroh said.

Zhao huffed. “Why not?” At Jeong Jeong’s look, he added, “My prince?”

“The Yu Yan archers are currently stationed in Nanyue. We were going to need their help with the upcoming campaign there, you see.”

Zhao opened his mouth - probably to tactlessly demand they recall the Yu Yan from Nanyue - but Ozai beat him to it. “I thought you’d deployed all the Nanyue Campaign forces to assist us against the Avatar, Brother.”

Iroh coughed. “Most of them, yes. But I decided it would be best if we left...a token few. To keep an eye on things.”

“To keep Father happy, you mean.”

“Cousin Jyoti is their acting captain,” Iroh said mildly. “I thought you might appreciate it if I kept her out of the way.”

Ozai’s hands twitched ever-so-slightly towards his cheeks as though to protect them before he firmly grasped his teacup. “You just don’t want her sharing her opinions on tea again,” he muttered.

Iroh’s lips were thin. “She’s entitled to her opinions, wrong though they may be.” He had another sip of tea.

* * *

“So don’t freak out guys, but you have to suck on these frogs.”

Bato really hoped that was the fever hallucinations talking, but then a frozen amphibian was shoved into his mouth. It...actually didn’t taste too bad. Maybe  _ that _ was the fever hallucination talking. He started sucking, because it seemed the thing to do. Kya made a happy noise, so maybe that meant the frogs really  _ did _ taste good.

“Aang,” Hakoda said around a mouthful of frog, “how was your trip? Did you make any new friends?”

Aang plopped onto Appa’s foreleg. “It was pretty uneventful. I met this nice herbalist lady in that academy, and her weird cat. This whole city’s mostly abandoned, but she refuses to leave while there’s still soldiers in the area who need her. Anyway, just keep sucking on those frogs and you guys should feel better soon.” Aang pitched his voice a bit so that it could be heard all throughout the abandoned hall they were camping in. “It’s the best we’ve got, since I don’t know how to heal with water. Or do anything with water. Except  _ almost freeze my friends _ in a block of ice with myself for  _ another hundred years!” _

There was no answer to Aang’s passive-aggression. He sighed and rolled over on Appa’s leg.

The frog in Bato’s mouth started squirming. He wondered how his life had come to this.

* * *

“Captain Jyoti is requesting permission to  _ what?” _

Ursa ignored her soon-to-be-father-in-law’s ranting in the other room to focus on her soon-to-be-nephew. “Whoosa little cutie pie? Is it you? I think it’s you!”

Lu Ten’s mouth opened in a wide smile.

“No, absolutely not!” Azulon shouted. “I need  _ someone competent _ to keep an eye on the situation in Nanyue! Just because the damn Trungs aren’t a priority anymore doesn’t mean I’m  _ done _ with them!”

Ursa covered her face with her hands and peeked through a crack between her fingers. The smile dropped from Lu Ten’s face. She gave him a moment to process her absence before letting her hands fly open. “Peekaboo!”

Her not-quite nephew’s smile returned.

“I don’t care how much help the Yu Yan Archers might be against one Airbender! If the  _ entire Fire Army _ cannot take him out, I doubt the Yu Yan could! I am saying that as someone who married into the clan, I  _ know _ what they’re capable of!”

“Peekaboo!”

Lu Ten giggled.

“Peeeeeeeekaboo!”

Baby laughter truly was one of the purest noises in the world.

“Besides, I know my niece! She doesn’t want to help! She isn’t even after  _ personal glory! _ She just wants to restart that argument she had with Iroh last summer solstice about whether or not herbal teas count as tea!”

“Peekaboo!”

Lu Ten’s laughter was lesser this time, though he was still smiling. He was becoming immune to the surprise, perhaps even gaining an understanding of object permanence. Well.  _ That _ wouldn’t do.

“She told him chamomile is just daisy juice and now Iroh’s refused to talk to her for  _ months. _ She’s just trying to corner him where he can’t ignore her!”

“Okay,” Ursa said, picking up a blue mask. Lu Ten tilted his head at it curiously. “Let’s kick peekaboo up a notch, hm?”

The toddler’s eyes just about bugged out of his skull when she lifted the mask to her face. And then he started crying.

“Oh, no!” Ursa said, quickly dropping the mask. “Look, it’s still me, see? Peekaboo! Peekaboo! Dangit, I’m sorry…”

“What’s going on here?” Janya asked, swooping over to the couch where they’d been playing. 

“I was just…” Ursa gestured helplessly at the mask.

Janya chuckled and picked up her son. Ursa pouted at the loss of the baby. “Are these from Love Amongst the Dragons?” Janya asked, looking at the masks Ursa had lying about.

“It’s my favorite!” Ursa grinned. “I thought, he’s too young to understand the book, so maybe he’d like the play masks better… But I guess not.”

Janya patted Lu Ten’s back until he stopped crying. He hid his little face in his mother’s shoulder, one little hand fisted in her collar. “Maybe you shouldn’t start out with the scary water demon mask.”

Ursa sighed. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

“So no, Cadet Shino, you can go right back to your Captain Jyoti, and you tell my niece that she is to stay at her assigned post, refrain from instigating tea arguments with my son, and, if she is feeling particularly motivated to assist in the war effort, she can bring me the head of General Trung!”

“That’s quite the collection you have there,” Janya said, looking over the masks.

“I’m a lover of theatre,” Ursa said. “I was part of my hometown’s Thespian Society back on Hira’a! We weren’t the Ember Island Players, but we were pretty good!”

_ “Which _ General Trung? ANY OF THEM! I’M NOT BEING PICKY!”

“Oh!” Janya said, delighted. “Have you seen the Ember Island Players perform Love Amongst the Dragons? They’re quite stunning.”

“Not yet,” Ursa sighed. “Ozai said he’d take me, but, well…” She shrugged. Ozai getting shuffled off to “hunt for the Avatar” and now  _ actually _ having to hunt for the Avatar had put a damper on their courtship. Hard to court someone who wasn’t  _ there. _ Harder still to figure out which ports to address her letters to when the Avatar was proving to be a master of strategic maneuvering and no one knew where he’d go next.

“I’ll remind him,” Janya said. She looked back at the masks. There was the Dark Water Spirit, the Dragon Emperor, the Dragon Empress, the Rodent of Unusual Size, the Dread Pirate Ro Ba, the Shrieking Eel… “So have you ever worn any of these?”

Ursa smiled sweetly. “Not professionally.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Don't forget to submit a prompt or three!
> 
> (ngl I'm waiting for someone to ask about the Winter Solstice and its aftermath. >.>)


	9. The summer solstice, what happened there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, about what you’d expect from any family holiday gathering…
> 
> Prompt submitted by Girljackson.
> 
> Once again, I wasn't expecting Jyoti to show up in this. And yet, here we are.

“Is that  _ Ozai?” _

It’s all the warning Ursa gets before her fiance is swept up by a jovial woman with Yu Yan tattoos.

“Jyoti!” Ozai protests, but he’s unable to escape the woman’s fingers before they pinch his cheeks.

“Little cousin, look how big you’ve gotten!” she coos. Ursa can’t help but giggle, and that proves to be a mistake as Jyoti’s head turns toward her.  _ “Oh!” _ she exclaims, eyes lighting up. “And you must be  _ Ursa!” _

When Ursa finally escaped to the banquet table, her mother frowned at her. “I thought you said you were going light on the makeup, dear,” Rina said. “Why are you wearing so much rouge?”

“Cousin Jyoti got to you, didn’t she?” Janya snickered, and Ursa groaned and rubbed her cheeks with a rueful nod.

The summer solstice celebrations progressed as well as they could. Fire Sage Kuzon presided over the spiritual side of the ceremony, giving praise to Agni and asking for blessings and luck for the Fire Nation in its ongoing Great March of Civilization. Other Fire Sages performed similar rites, and then a bunch of nobles gave some speeches and praised the royal family for their astute leadership and wished them good fortune. Through it all, Ursa saw Fire Lord Azulon looking more and more bored. One of the first things she’d learned about her future father-in-law was that he wasn’t one for pomp and circumstance and only dealt with it when the court demanded it.

When the talking was finally over with, the eating and socializing began. Ursa chattered with her parents about her new life in the royal palace, Janya interjecting every so often - mostly to heap praise upon Ursa’s shoulders. Ursa was a sweet, kind girl with a keen sense of humor, fun to spar with and a splendid conversationalist, and Ozai was just  _ dazzled _ with her. Jinzuk and Rina should be very proud to have raised such a daughter! She was going to make a wonderful addition to the royal family.

Ursa flushed at the praise. Beside her, Ozai was just as red, and he kept shooting Janya annoyed scowls that she pointedly ignored. Iroh smiled serenely and pretended not to see his little brother’s embarrassment. Ursa caught Ozai’s eye and shot him a quick grin, which only made him flush more.

Ursa took a minute to look around the banquet hall. She heard Azulon laugh at something Daimyo Masami of Kohimori Island said, and at one of the other tables she caught sight of one of Janya’s relatives from the House of Flying Daggers doing some sort of balancing trick with a knife on her finger. At another table sat all the Fire Sages who were in attendance for the festivities. Most of them spoke amongst themselves, except for one who was in deep conversation with Daimyo Ayako of the Shiroboshi Clan.

Fire Sage Kuzon, however, wasn’t speaking to anybody. Rather, he was looking straight at Ursa.

Ursa pursed her lips and went back to her meal. She wasn’t unused to the scrutiny of Fire Sages. She was, after all, the granddaughter of Avata Roku - though that little fact Was Not Talked About, not in polite company. It was, perhaps, a factor in Azulon’s proposal that she marry Ozai, but by no means the only reason behind their betrothal, and one that was barely acknowledged. Still, for all that lack of acknowledgement, Fire Sages had a knack for showing up in Hira’a to ask Ursa’s parents and aunts and uncles  _ questions _ about spiritual affairs. They never asked Ursa, because Ursa had never known her grandfather.

But now Fire Sage Kuzon was looking at her.

She confronted him about it when the after-dinner mingling started up.  _ Politely, _ of course. It made for better business if you were polite, a lesson she was trying to figure out how to hammer into Ozai’s head. “Fire Sage Kuzon, is there something I can help you with?”

“Ah, Lady Ursa,” the old man said, turning a genial smile on her. “How are you this evening?”

“Very well, sir, thank you. I saw you looking at me during dinner. Is everything alright?”

“Ah, you saw that did you?” he sighed, looking contrite. “I was just thinking. You look very much like your grandmother, you know.”

Oh. Ursa looked the old man over. She wasn’t sure how old he was, exactly, but he could easily be older than the war. Old enough to have known Lady Ta Min, certainly. “So I’ve heard,” she said. “Did you know her?”

“I met her a few times, when I was a boy. We had a mutual friend, you see. One of my friends’ teachers. He brought us to visit sometimes.” Fire Sage Kuzon smiled fondly. “She was a remarkable lady. Very kind. Always had a bowl of fire gummies ready for when rambunctious children visited.”

Ursa smiled. That sounded like the woman her father had described. Jinzuk had been born late in his parents’ lives, and had been raised more by his older siblings than by his parents themselves, but he had many fond memories of his mother. “I’ll have to stock up on fire gummies, then.”

Fire Sage Kuzon laughed, and Ursa laughed back politely, and then they went their separate ways.

She found Ozai grumping around in the middle of the banquet hall. His cheeks had been pinched red again. “This party sucks,” he grumbled.

“Do you want to sneak off somewhere and make out?” Ursa asked, mostly to see his face flush. She giggled. Ozai stomped off, face red as a chili pepper.

Ursa eventually found herself with her parents, sitting beside Azulon. “Having a pleasant evening, Father?” She wasn’t married yet, but Azulon had told her she could call him father already. He liked her.

“As pleasant as these parties can be,” Azulon sighed. “I’d rather be in my office.”

“It’s good to get out sometimes,” Ursa pointed out.

Azulon huffed.

Across the room, Iroh was serving up some tea to whoever wanted some, and that was when the arguing started. “Iroh, this isn’t  _ tea.” _

“But of course it is, Cousin Jyoti! It’s a plant leaf infusion made with hot water. That’s how one makes tea!”

“Herbal teas  _ do not count!” _

“Actually they fit the definition very nicely…”

“If it’s not made from the tea plant, it  _ isn’t tea, _ Iroh.”

“It’s chamomile tea, Cousin. Drink some, it’s very good!”

“Does it even have caffeine? No, of course it doesn’t, because herbal teas are invalid.”

“Here Cousin, have a cup. It has a very pleasing calming effect; I think you could use some.”

“Chamomile tea is just hot daisy juice, Iroh!”

_ “What?” _

“Fire Lord Azulon,” Jinzuk said, watching the drama unfold, “when I agreed to marry my daughter to your son, I did not think her marrying into the royal family would involve her in instances such as...this.”

The arguing was getting worse. Janya was trying to wade through the crowd to get to her husband, but to no avail.

“I know my sons can be...unique,” Azulon said. “But Ursa has slid very neatly into her place in our family. She can handle the...eccentricities of royal life.”

“I should hope so,” Rina muttered. “It isn’t too late for us to withdraw our agreement to the proposal.”

“No, but Ursa wouldn’t want that,” Azulon said, turning to Ursa. “She’s very happy here. Aren’t you, my dear?”

Ursa smiled sweetly. “I could have married Lao Beifong.”

Her parents snickered.

“Ursa I will  _ give you a province _ if you promise to never entertain that notion again,” Azulon said. 

“Oh no need, Father, it was just a joke!”

“Are you  _ trying _ to give me a heart attack, child?”

“Father, I motion to banish Lady Jyoti from the Fire Nation on the grounds that she doesn’t appreciate all tea!” Iroh shouted from the middle of the hall.

“Your son is a disgrace to tea aficionados who drinks daisy water and has no standards, Uncle Azulon!” Jyoti shot back.

“REJECTED!” Azulon shouted back, and then his hands went to his temples.

“Are you alright, Father?” Ursa asked.

“I am going to put these people on different boats and send them all over the world.”


	10. Are we going to get any perspective on what the Southern Water Tribe says about the Northern in this time period?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get all that PLUS a character reveal! Everyone give it up for the Gaang's semi-responsible, occasionally-functional adult member! This is going to go just swimmingly, I assure you.
> 
> Prompt submitted by Lyta.

“You know, when I asked you kids if we had anything to drink, I didn’t mean  _ water.” _

Kya crossed her arms and levelled a hard stare at the woman across the campfire. “We are fifteen years old, we are on a  _ mission, _ and you’ve been travelling with us for a week now. Why do you think we’d have alcohol?”

Hama shrugged. “I’ve seen weirder. Trust me.”

Kya didn’t doubt it, but she also didn’t trust her.

“So...the Northern Tribe?” Hakoda needled.

Hama’s gaze was fixed on the little droplets of water she was swirling around her fingers. “I’m not drunk enough for this conversation.”

“To be fair, you never seem to think you’re drunk enough for anything,” Bato pointed out.

Hama snorted.

“Why do you think we shouldn’t go to the Northern Water Tribe?” Hakoda asked.

“Didn’t your mother tell you  _ anything _ about that place?”

“Yeah, lots!”

“Clearly not enough,” Hama muttered. “Look, I’ve spent the last twenty-some years either in prison or in hiding. I’ve never been to the Northern Tribe. All I know of it is what Kanna told me and what I figured out from that jerk back in prison. Suinnak or something, I dunno, I couldn’t be bothered to remember his name. Spirits I hated him, it was a relief when he finally shut up.”

“Who was he?” Bato asked. They knew the names of the Waterbenders the Fire Nation had taken from the South - they were passed down from generation to generation, passed over from tribe to tribe. They told the stories and spoke their names and kept their people’s memory alive, even if there was little hope for the people themselves. The name Suinnak was not in those stories.

(The name Hama had featured prominently. Meeting the real thing was turning out to be a letdown that was fast turning from bittersweet to aggravating.)

“Only Northern bender they ever threw in with us,” Hama said. “He was a lucky catch or something.”

“And...what did you figure out from him?” Hakoda asked.

Hama shrugged. “Oh, well. You know.” She gulped down one of the water droplets she’d been swirling around. “While he was still feeling bold enough to speak, he asked why there were so many  _ women _ in our prison. I told him we went down fighting. He said if we’d just stayed  _ where we belonged _ we wouldn’t be in this mess.” She gulped down another water droplet.

The kids were silent for a moment.

“...Yeah,” Hakoda finally said, “that  _ does _ fit in with what Mom talked about.”

Hama pointed at Kya. “You want to stroll yourself straight into a city that’ll ignore you at best and oppress you at worst? Be my guest, but don’t be shocked when I tell you it’s a stupid plan.”

“It’s the only plan we’ve got,” Kya said. “Aang needs a waterbending teacher.”

Aang had been silent the entire time, content to let the Water Tribeskids and -woman hash out their disagreements, but now he spoke. “Hama...I know you already refused, but...why don’t  _ you _ teach me? Then we wouldn’t have to go to the North Pole at all!”

Hama’s finger jerked around to point at Aang. “Absolutely  _ not.” _

“But  _ why not?” _ Aang demanded. He gestured at the water still whizzing around her hand. “You’re clearly able to bend still, and according to Kya, Hakoda, and Bato you were one of the greatest benders in your tribe! Why won’t you teach me?”

Hama’s face darkened. “For the same reason I never went home,” she said cryptically. “You don’t want me to. Trust me.” She stood up and stalked into the forest.

The kids all slumped. “Welp. North Pole it is, then,” Aang said.

“Huzzah,” said Kya.

“I won’t let them take your boomerang,” Hakoda said, trying to be cheerful and failing.

Bato was staring into the trees after Hama. “What do we do with her?”

“If she doesn’t want to come with us, we can drop her off in the next village for all I care,” Kya huffed. She turned a disappointed gaze to Hakoda. “She isn’t at all what I expected from the stories.”

Hakoda nodded sadly. “She was in prison for...a  _ long _ time.”

“Do you think...all of them are like that now?” Bato wondered.

“I hope not,” Kya whispered, and the camp fell silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a prompt! This story isn't gonna write itself, haha.


	11. Does Aang have a crush like he did with Katara?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by Anonymous.
> 
> Yeah, Aang has a crush...for about ten seconds. ;)

“Will you go penguin sledding with me?”

Kya’s expression shuttered, and Hakoda immediately ran interference. “We don’t really penguin sled anymore. It’s a game for kids.”

Aang tears his hopeful eyes away from Kya to tilt his head at Hakoda. “You guys still _are_ kids.”

“Excuse you, we’ve all been ice dodging,” Bato muttered.

“Come on, just one little ride? Pleeeeeeease?” Aang begged.

Hakoda stared at those polar-puppy eyes and wondered how he was supposed to resist. “Uh…”

“You two should go penguin sledding with him,” Kya said suddenly.

The boys all looked at her, Aang with glee, Hakoda and Bato with surprise. “What?” Hakoda asked.

Kya nodded towards the empty wooden racks the tribe used to smoke fish. “We didn’t exactly get a good catch yesterday. Not of anything we can eat, anyway,” she added, nodding towards Appa, who the camp’s children were happily using as a jungle gym.

“Oh,” said Hakoda. “Good point. Okay, let’s go.”

“So you’re coming?” Aang asked Kya hopefully.

“I’m not one for sledding,” Kya said. “But I’ll come along.”

The last time Kya had gone penguin sledding, it had been with Nini. The girls had finished their chores and snuck off for a bit of fun before the storm brewing on the horizon forced them to stay indoors. They’d spent hours speeding down the slopes and trudging back uphill to get another ride, until the penguins had huddled into groups, hunkered down for the oncoming blizzard and refusing to move. Kya and Nini had run back home as the first snowflakes started to fall, and once there they’d been severely scolded by their parents and pulled into their homes just as the winds picked up.

The next time Kya had seen Nini, her friend had been blue and translucent and desperately trying to get warm.

She hadn’t gone penguin sledding since. But penguins still had their uses.

“Hey, Kya, what are you doing with that boomerang - _oh my gosh!”_

Hakoda gave a low whistle. “That was a great hit, Kya.”

Kya looked away from the penguin she’d just delivered a long-distance broken neck to and blinked at Aang. The kid looked a little pale. “Are you okay?”

“Fine!” Aang said, eyes wide. “Sorry, I know you eat meat, I just - I wasn’t expecting to, uh, see that. Alright then.”

Kya blinked. “Do you... _not_ eat meat?”

“Air Nomads are vegetarians,” Aang said, still staring at the dead penguin. Bato had walked out to pick it up. “We believe all life is sacred.”

“...Huh,” Kya said.

“I mean, I’m not judging!” Aang added quickly. “I know the Water Tribe can’t be vegetarians, you guys need a high-fat, high-protein diet, it’s cool, I just...wasn’t expecting to _see that.”_

Kya wondered if she should apologize.

Bato dragged the penguin over. “It’s a nice fat one. Definitely makes up for the lack of fish.” He handed Kya her boomerang.

“Perfect,” Kya said, sitting down. “You guys go have fun sledding, I’m gonna work on this.”

“What are you going to - ” Aang broke off as Kya pulled out her skinning knife. “You know what? Never mind, I don’t want to know. Come on guys, let’s go find some alive penguins and have some fun!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, and by "fun" I mean "depressing" - due to federal nutritional regulations, many Inuit elders living in nursing homes in Alaska don't get to eat their traditional foods very often. The traditional Inuit diet is high in meat and fat, low in fiber, and food is often served raw. This goes against...basically all conventional nutrition standards, so the folks who live in nursing homes or are hospitalized have to put up with a very different diet than the one their bodies grew up on. And even if nursing homes were allowed to serve traditional meals, it's illegal to sell wild game meat, so they wouldn't be able to purchase it for their residents. Here's an article from 2017 if you wanna read more about that:
> 
> https://slate.com/technology/2017/10/the-fight-for-the-right-to-eat-seal-blubber.html


	12. How did the group meet Hama?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by Lyta.
> 
> MAN this one gave me trouble. Which is stupid cuz I wanted to write it. Glad I got it figured out!

After the events Hakoda had already declared The Worst Winter Solstice Ever, they didn’t fly far. They couldn’t. Even if they themselves weren’t exhausted, Appa was - the poor bison had been up since before dawn, crossing an ocean and evading a Fire Nation blockade and infiltrating a temple island. Aang knew better than to push a tired bison past its limits - Monk Gyatso had made it very clear that the consequences would be freefall. He wasn’t familiar with this part of the Fire Nation, but he knew Crescent Island was the easternmost island in the archipelago. So Aang had Appa fly west.

It put his friends on edge, flying deeper into the Fire Nation, but Aang pointed out a few simple facts. One, the sun was setting, and they wanted to fly straight into it to mask their route. Two, it was only a few miles to the next island, and Appa was too tired to go much farther. Three…

Kuzon had promised he’d throw Prince Ozai off the trail. 

And who would expect them to go  _ further _ into the Fire Nation, anyway?

The next island over was small and uninhabited - no tell-tale lights of a village twinkled in the dusk. Appa touched down on the beach with an exhausted  _ whumph. _ “Okay,” Hakoda said, sliding off Appa’s back and making his way up the beach. “Let’s hide in the treeline and keep camp simple tonight. No cooking, no fire, preserved food only for dinner. Uh. Is there freshwater here, do you think?”

Aang used air to lift Appa’s saddle up and tuck it into the shadows of the trees. “I don’t know, but the waterskins are still full. We can figure it out tomorrow. If worse comes to worst we can fly straight back to Hei Bai’s forest and the river there.” He patted Appa’s nose. “Sorry, buddy. I’ll get you hydrated, promise.”

The bison huffed, but lumbered further into the trees and plopped down to sleep. Hakoda, Kya, and Bato grabbed their sleeping rolls and the dried food.

“Everyone agrees we get out of here first thing tomorrow morning, right?” Bato asked, doing a quick perimeter check around their camp.

“Yes,” Kya says.

“I vote we go the second Appa’s awake,” Hakoda said. 

“And fed,” Aang reminded him.

“Right, we leave the second Appa’s awake and fed. All in favor?”

“Aye,” said Kya.

“Aye,” said Bato.

Aang said nothing. They all looked at him. “Come on Aang, you get a vote too,” Kya reminded him.

“Oh! Right. Aye-aye, Chief Hakoda!”

Hakoda preened. Kya threwa pillow at his face. “Okay, no, I did  _ not _ vote for you to be chief.”

Hakoda threw the pillow back at her. “And we should take turns keeping watch tonight. I’m  _ really _ not in the mood to be woken up by Prince Angry Jerk and Cadet Flamethrower.”

“Okay, yeah, seconded,” Bato said, staring off into the forest.

“Who was the girl?” Kya wondered.

“The girl?”

“The girl, the one with Ozai. Didn’t you see her?”

“Oh, yeah, I did see her,” Hakoda said. “More importantly, I saw her swords. Just another Fire soldier, I guess.”

“She was dressed way too nicely to be a soldier,” Kya said. “She was dressed way too nicely to be fighting at all.”

Hakoda had a bite of seal jerky and shrugged. “I don’t know. Hopefully it isn’t important and we never see her again. Bato, are you alright?”

Bato was still staring into the forest. “Uh...you might want to see this.”

Hakoda got up and went to see it. “Huh,” he said when he stood beside Bato. Kya and Aang ambled up behind them.

“Is that a person?” Kya asked, tilting her head at the figure slumped against a tree not fifty feet away. Her hand went to the boomerang holster on her back.

“They haven’t moved the whole time we’ve been taking,” Bato said.

“Do you think they’re Fire Nation?” Aang asked.

“Well, they’re on a Fire Nation island,” Hakoda said, “so, yes.”

Aang hesitated. He’d become more cautious with every adventure they’d had since he’d been freed from the iceberg, had learned to scope out a situation before diving straight into it. But after a moment his monk’s compassion won out. “We should make sure they’re okay,” he said, sweeping forward on a little airstream that flew under his feet.

“Aang, wait!” Kya hissed, grabbing for him, but the Airbender was already at the stranger’s side. The Water Tribe teens ran after him.

“Well,” Bato said as they approached. “I’m going to guess this isn’t normal?” It was a camp, of sorts. There was the charred remains of a campfire and some kind of lean-to shelter, and what appeared to be small stockpiles of food - coconuts and fruit and dried fish.

There were also clay jars. Lots and lots of clay jars. And the shattered remains of even more clay jars.

“Is she...alive?” Hakoda asked, looking at the woman Aang was hovering over. She was thin and haggard, dressed in patched-up brown-red robes cut in the Fire Nation style. Her graying hair was long and lank and tied back in a haphazard bun. Not five seconds after Hakoda spoke, she loosed a long, loud snore. “...well, that answers that question,” he whispered.

“What do we do?” Kya asked.

“We should leave,” Hakoda said.

“And go  _ where? _ Appa’s exhausted and the Fire Nation is looking for us.”

“We don’t know who this is, or when she’s going to wake up, or what she’ll do when she does.”

“Uh, I don’t think she’s going to wake up for a while,” Bato said, an open jar in his hand. He handed it over to Hakoda.

Hakoda took a whiff and winced. “That is...really potent stuff.” He passed it to Kya, who also winced.

“So...she’s drunk?” Aang asked. “Do you think she’s okay? Can’t you get alcohol poisoning if you drink too much?”

“Who cares? She’s Fire Nation,” Kya said.

Aang shot her an annoyed look. “Not everyone in the Fire Nation is evil, Kya. You  _ just met _ Kuzon.”

“Yeah, and all the other Fire Sages, who  _ definitely _ wanted to kill you.” Aang still had that stubborn look on his face, and Kya sighed. “She’s breathing, she isn’t vomiting, and if she does start vomiting she’s in a good position to not choke on it,” she said. “I’m much more worried about  _ us. _ What do we do?”

“Maybe she’ll just stay asleep, and we won’t have to do anything?” Aang offered hopefully.

Kya and Hakoda exchanged doubtful glances, but Bato looked around the many empty jars scattered around the camp. “You know, that’s a distinct possibility,” he muttered, and started inspecting the woman’s food supplies.

“We could tie her up,” Kya said. Aang looked worried, and she added, “We’ll untie her when we leave.”

“What if she has friends?” Hakoda asked.

Bato had picked up a dried fish. It looked...strange, but it was hard to tell  _ why. _ It was just a fish, perfectly dried out and devoid of any juicy bits that might rot. But something about it looked off, less like a fish that’d been smoked over a campfire, and more like a sea plum that’d been left out to prune in the sun.

Speaking of which… “Are these sea prunes?” Bato wondered.

_ “What?” _ Hakoda and Kya asked.

Bato held up the long strings of dry seaweed he’d found, laden with shriveled little fruits. They didn’t look exactly like sea prunes, but there was something familiar about them.

While they were all staring at that mystery, the full moon crested the horizon, and the woman’s eyes fluttered open.

“Uh, hi!” Aang said, smiling nervously. Kya was beside him immediately, boomerang in one hand and club in the other. Hakoda and Bato were there a second later.

The woman blinked up at them with glazed eyes. “You don’t even know how to throw that,” she said to Kya.

Kya bristled. “Yes I do!” she said, but the woman’s gaze had already slid towards Bato.

“Oh,” she said, blinking a few times. “Back to tell me how horrible I am?” She stared at Bato for an uncomfortably long time, as though she honestly expected a response.

Hakoda nudged Bato’s arm and gave him a meaningful look.

“Uh,” Bato said, “no, you’re, uh...you’re fine? It’s fine, you’re fine.”

“You always were a terrible liar, Atka,” the woman muttered. She was still staring straight at Bato.

The Water Tribe kids all froze.

“...Guys?” Aang asked softly.

“Coincidence,” Kya said. “Has to be.”

_ “Really weird _ coincidence,” Hakoda hissed back.

The woman blinked a few times, and slowly straightened up, her eyes becoming ever-so-slightly more lucid. One hand lifted very slowly, fingers extended towards the kids. “...You’re all actually here,” she realized.

“How do you know my grandfather’s name?” Bato asked.

“Your -  _ what?” _ The woman jerked upright, peering at them. She looked far more sober now. Her eyes tracked over them - Kya’s boomerang, the beads in Hakoda’s hair, Bato’s wolftail. “You’re - Water Tribe,” she said, eyes wide.

Kya pushed Aang behind her before the woman noticed the Airbender tattoos. “Yeah. And you need to go back to sleep.” It wasn’t her boomerang that moved, but her blunt club, arching directly for the woman’s temple.

It glanced off against a wall of ice that sprang up from nowhere, even as every plant around the campsite withered into blackened husks. Kya staggered under the shock, Hakoda yelped, Bato grabbed his whalebone knife out of instinct and held it out in a defensive position.

But none of them moved, except for the woman, who slowly pushed herself to her feet.

“Was that waterbending?” Aang asked. None of his friends could answer him - the only time they’d ever seen waterbending had been when he’d escaped Prince Ozai’s ship. He hadn’t been able to do it again since.

“Water Tribe,” the woman repeated. The ice melted, but the water stayed, hovering in the air by her outstretched arms. “Who did you say Shaman Atka was to you?” she asked Bato.

“He was - my grandfather,” Bato said, staring at her. 

“Your - are you Anana’s or Suka’s?”

Kya’s boomerang trembles in her hand. Hakoda’s eyes are full of cautious hope. “Anana’s my mother,” Bato says shakily. “Who are you?”

“Hama,” the woman breathes. “Of the Wolf Tribe.”

Hakoda makes a noise in the back of his throat. Kya chokes back a sob. Bato stares at the woman a moment longer before dropping his knife and taking a hesitant step forward, and then another. When he’s standing directly in front of Hama, he carefully leans towards her face until his nose touches hers.

“Hello, cousin of my mother,” he says, and the water hovering behind Hama splashes to the ground.

Hakoda and Kya step forward, and Aang decides that now is a good time to just...recede back into the forest. He’s pretty sure they aren’t in any danger now, and the way his friends looked...he thinks they’ll appreciate it if he stays out of this moment.

He knows he’d appreciate it if Monk Gyatso showed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hama and Bato being related (kinda-distantly by our standards, not distant at all by the Water Tribe's) has been a headcanon of mine for a while. That dark hair runs in the family. 
> 
> Updates may be fewer and farther between now, because I have to get back to work. But I'll still be around! Keep submitting prompts! :D


	13. Do they go to Omashu and meet Bumi?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by jedimasterjaina, whose username is amazing. I miss the Solo kids. <3

The messenger hawk flew into Avatar Roku’s temple and proceeded to nip and screech at anyone who tried to retrieve the letter tucked into its harness until Fire Sage Kuzon showed up. Then the bird became the sweetest, most loving animal in all existence. This might have had something to do with the hippo-beef jerky Kuzon brought with him.

“Not to worry, not to worry,” he reassured young Initiate Shyu, who was nursing pecked fingers. “She’s a persnickety old thing. I know how to handle her. It’s a personal message anyway.” He took the bird and decided it was close enough to evening to retire early for the day. He brought the hawk to his private chambers, set her up with more meat, made a pot of tea, and turned his attention to the letter.

It was a perfectly innocuous thing. Plain, undecorated parchment, a yellow wax seal stamped with a pai sho tile design that, when broken, revealed a message so simple and rambling, anyone reading it would easily assume it was nothing more than a letter sent between two old friends.

They would be perfectly right. And also completely wrong.

_ Greetings and salutations, my dear Kuzon! _

_ I hope this letter finds you well. It’s been some time since I last wrote - your last move in our latest game was fiendishly clever! I have spent some time puzzling over how best to combat it, and you’ll see I’ve decided to sacrifice one of my flowers. We shall see how it plays out! _

Kuzon paused his reading to look at one of the other papers tucked into the letter - a drawing of a pai sho board, with the positions of the tiles in play noted. One of the lilies had, indeed, been left vulnerable out in the open.

_ Things are well with me. The remainder of Fluffy’s pregnancy went well and she gave birth last week to a darling little thing I’ve named Flopsy. He’s quite the rambunctious little scamp! _

Kuzon could only imagine what kind of trouble a newborn gorilla-goat could get up to.

_ But aside from that, there isn’t much to report on my end. The most interesting thing to have happened lately is the Avatar’s return! I’m sure you already know about that, though, you devoted Fire Sage you! I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you were right there when the temple started glowing! _

Kuzon had, indeed, been  _ right there _ when the statue of Avatar Roku had started glowing. It had been terrifying, in a world-shattering kind of way that meant life had just taken an irrevocable turn for the weirder.

_ Couldn’t believe it myself when I heard the announcement! Who expects an Avatar to show up after all this time? I’m worried about how this will play out, but I will hope for the best. _

_ Anyway, enough of that current events chit-chat, we’re too old to bother with that for long. So on an unrelated note, you’ll never guess who showed up for a visit the other day - our old friend Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis! _

Kuzon choked on his tea. 

When he was done choking, he reread that sentence. 

Then he reread it  _ again. _

Then he decided to read the next sentence just to see if it cleared anything up.

_ I know, I wasn’t expecting it either, but you know how the old fellow was always full of surprises. I must admit I’m jealous - he’s remarkably well-preserved for his age. Hasn’t aged a day! I suppose the ladies are right when they say you should moisturize, haha. _

Kuzon stared helplessly at that paragraph. Then he glanced back up at the lines about the Avatar’s return. Then he thought about the report from Prince Iroh that Fire Lord Azulon had shared, detailing how the Avatar had apparently been frozen in an ice berg. “Mother of Agni,” he breathed.

_ We had a grand old time catching up. Played some games, showed off some bending, the usual. The old fellow’s still as energetic as you or me - even more so, perhaps. And he’s just as determined to travel as ever! Fortunately he has three new friends to assist him in that. I have faith they’ll be taking care of him when he goes a-wandering. I told him you’ve been doing well, and he was glad to hear it, but he knows you may not have time for him to visit given all your work with the Fire Sages. _

_ And of course, we played a few rounds of pai sho while he was here! Please find enclosed one of his more interesting games, which I plan to continue via letter. Please let me know if you have any opinions on strategy! _

Kuzon found another illustration of a pai sho board. The pieces in play were a sky bison, a boat, and two lilies - water lilies? - all clustered together. The white dragon was prowling the board alongside the knotweed and another ship - fire signs, the princes? the navy? In the center of it all sat the white lotus tile, unaffected and unused as of yet.

_ And I suppose that’s all I have to write about for now. Looking forward to your response! Don’t be afraid to crush me in our game, haha. The sooner you win, the sooner I can try again! _

_ Your friend, _

_ Li _

Kuzon put the letter down and stared at the window at the setting sun. There was so much information to process, so his brain latched onto something familiar - prayers, and thanks. Thanks be to Agni that he and Bumi had figured out a covert writing system years ago. Thanks be to Agni that a much younger Kuzon and Bumi had decided the risk was worth it and spent years writing each other under the guise of old friends, so that now no one would be suspicious with Kuzon’s correspondence. Thanks be to Agni that pai sho was so versatile both as a game and as a code. Thanks be to Agni that Aang was - 

That Aang was - 

Kuzon took a shaky breath. He’d given up hope so long ago. Everything he’d done in the last seventy years, he’d done for a memory. And now that remembrance was paying off, in ways he’d never dared to hope for.

To think, that when Avatar Roku’s statue had lit up last week, it had been  _ Aang - _

Kuzon reached for a piece of plain paper and an ink brush and got to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please no one ask me about pai sho symbolism I just make it up as I go. *cries*
> 
> Thanks for all the prompts you guys have been leaving! Please feel free to leave more and I'll get to them when I can!


	14. Who’s this universe’s equivalent of Jet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by jedimasterjaina.

“This is Nanyue?” Hama repeated.

“Yep!” Aang said, securing the reins on Appa’s horns. “I can’t wait to find a village here, there’s this really good artichoke tea that they make in this area! And their music’s really cool, too, there’s this one instrument - ”

“Nanyue is a highly contested hotbed of occupying Fire Nation forces and stubborn guerilla fighters,” Hama said flatly.

Aang sighed. “Guess I should really just start expecting everything I remember to be awful now.”

Hakoda gave him a side hug. “How much of a hotbed are we talking here?” he asked Hama.

She shrugged. “It goes back and forth. A lot. The Fire Nation pushes, the Nanyuese push back. Sometimes one side wins, sometimes the other does. I used to listen to soldiers in the pubs talk about it, there’s one region that’s been taken and retaken five times in as many years. It’s a mess.”

Hakoda looked around the forest they’d camped in overnight. “Do we know if this area’s firmly in the Fire Nation’s control?”

Hama snorted. “If it wasn’t last week, it might be this week.”

“Doesn’t sound like a place we want to stick around too long,” Kya said.

“Yeah,” Hakoda nodded. “But also not a place we want to draw attention to ourselves.”

“Flying bison are a very good way to attract attention,” Bato pointed out. “We don’t know who might be in this area.”

“I think we should lay low for a while,” Hakoda said. “Literally. Let’s get walking.”

Aang was enthusiastic about the plan at first. It wore off after ten minutes. “Walking stinks! How do people go _anywhere_ without a flying bison?”

“Come on, Aang, just a few more miles,” Kya said. “Maybe by then we’ll have a better idea about where we are and what’s going on in this area, and we’ll know if it’s safe to fly or not.”

Aang sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. No one’s lobbed a single fireball at us yet this morning!”

“Must be a record,” Hakoda said, parting the branches of a bush, and then he froze.

The Fire Nation soldiers milling around the campsite in the clearing froze as well.

“Run!” Hakoda snapped, but before he could even turn a fireball flew past his face and the undergrowth behind them turned to flame and cut off their escape route. Hakoda decided to do the next best thing, lifting his machete menacingly. “If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you.”

He could _feel_ the physical pain Bato went through to refrain from slapping his forehead. “What are you doing?”

Hakoda shot him a sheepish grin. “Bluffing?”

The Fire Nation captain laughed. _“You?_ Promise not to hurt _us?”_

Hakoda took a breath and prepared himself for a fight, but then he was suddenly pulled back by a hand on his shoulder. Hama stepped forward, between the kids and the soldiers. “Well,” she said, her voice hard as ice, _“me.”_

“Hama what are you _doing?”_ Hakoda hissed.

She popped the cork on her waterskin. “Not bluffing.”

“Hama!”

“The second you’re able to, fly Appa out of here and don’t look back.” She shifted into what the kids were starting to recognize as a waterbending stance.

That was when the first arrow whistled through the air and hit the back of the Fire captain. Three more hit his men in quick succession before any of them had the chance to react.

“THEY’RE IN THE TREES!” someone shouted, and that’s when people in leafy camouflage started dropping from the branches and taking out soldiers.

“...Or we can see how this plays out,” Hama amended, and then she jumped into the fray with a water whip. She hit one man right in the gut, the next in the neck, and then sliced through half the company’s spears, iron spearheads falling to the ground with little _tinks._

“I guess we’re doing this,” Bato said, and he clubbed a soldier over the head.

Aang used an air blast to blow another soldier into a tree. “Do they have any Firebenders - oh, there’s one!” He dodged the fireball that came soaring at his head. The Firebender gave an angry war cry and charged forward. Hakoda and Kya shouted back, weapons raised.

And then the Firebender’s cry was cut short, and he fell to the ground with an arrow in his back. The teenage girl behind him already had another arrow fitted to the string, but she only had a split second to look grimly satisfied before a spearman came for her. She ducked, twisted, and fired short-range into the soldier’s gut when she came back up. He went down howling, and she whirled back around towards Aang and his friends, her next arrow aimed right for them.

They barely had time to react. The arrow loosed, and it flew right past Hakoda’s ear and Aang’s face and into the chest of a Fire Nation soldier Kya hadn’t even noticed coming up behind her.

“Thanks!” Kya shouted, and she returned the favor by throwing her boomerang at the head of a Fire Nation soldier fighting one of the girl’s compatriots. The girl nodded back, one fighter to another, and went back to shooting arrows.

She came to them when the fight was over - when her people had declared the area clear and started cleanup, and Aang was steadfastly not looking at the scattered bodies, and Hama’s breathing had slowed down. She went around to every single one of her people first, issuing quiet orders and listening to quick reports. Then she went and found them clustered around Appa, cleaning weapons and checking each other for injuries. They paused when she approached, and she took a moment to look them all up and down. Their blue and yellow clothes must have looked as foreign to her as her leafy outfit and strange woven hat did to them.

“I’ve never actually seen waterbending before,” she said after a moment, looking at Hama. “That was very impressive.”

“Heh,” Hama managed. Her breathing still hadn’t quite returned to normal. “Glad to give a good first impression.”

The girl inclined her head and looked to the rest of them, expression going uncertain. She’d seemed more comfortable taking out soldiers than she did trying to figure out how to greet a group of foreigners. Her gaze slid towards Aang, and she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, only to close it again a second later.

“Thanks for saving us,” Hakoda said after a moment. “For a second there I really thought that was going to end badly.”

The girl smiled. “From what I saw, you’re all very formidable fighters. I’m sure you would’ve taken out a lot of them.” She didn’t say they would’ve made it out alive. Like taking out as many as you could before you went down was the best you could hope for.

“Maybe, but there were a lot of them,” Hakoda shrugged. “I’m surprised _you_ managed to take them all out. There’s a lot less of you than I realized.”

She sent a proud look over her shoulder to where her people were still cleaning up. There were only a dozen leaf-clad warriors to be seen. “We don’t have much choice,” she admitted. “Our forces are spread thin, and we’ve suffered losses over the years. We do what we can with what we have.”

“Well, you did a lot,” Bato said, “and we appreciate it.”

“I should really be the one thanking you. We needed to ambush this camp before they moved on, but they were on high alert all morning. We were trying to figure out how to stage a distraction - and then you walked in. I couldn’t have planned it out more perfectly.”

“So...you’re Nanyuese?” Kya surmised.

“Yes,” the girl said. “And I’m sorry for being so blunt, but - you’re the Avatar, aren’t you?”

Aang laughed weakly. “Yeah, Appa’s kind of a dead giveaway, isn’t he?”

The girl chewed her lower lip. “Are you...here to help?”

Aang smiled. “I mean...I’m trying to help the whole _world.”_

“Right now, our focus is getting to the North Pole so Aang can learn waterbending,” Kya said.

“So...you’re just passing through.”

Kya nodded, apologetic.

“We were walking because we thought it might be too dangerous to fly on Appa,” Hakoda added.

The girl gave Appa a disbelieving look. “That thing can fly?”

“We call them flying bison for a reason,” Aang grinned.

She shook her head. “Well, it’s a good thing you were walking. The Fire Nation has garrisons and watchtowers all over this valley. You would’ve been spotted for sure.”

“Do you know how we can get through Nanyue safely?” Bato asked.

“There’s no safety here,” the girl said darkly. “The Fire Nation’s been burning away at us for fifty years. They take our land and our people and our culture, and every time we take any of it _back,_ they get upset.”

“Sounds familiar,” Hama muttered.

“Okay, but what’s the best way out of here, then?” Hakoda asked. “Can you give us directions, or…?”

“I can do a bit more than that,” she said. “You should come speak with my aunts. We’ve got intel on the Fire Nation’s movements from here to the northern mountains. And we can get you a safe place to spend the night, too.”

Hakoda and Kya exchanged glances before looking at the rest of the group. Aang gave them a trusting look, Bato nodded, and Hama shrugged. “We’d appreciate that,” Hakoda said. “Thank you.”

She nodded. “For the Avatar? It’s an honor.”

“All clear!” someone shouted from the other side of the clearing. 

The girl glanced over her shoulder and gave a hand signal of acknowledgement. “Move out in five!” she called to her fighters. “Come on,” she added, looking back at them. “We need to get out of here before any scouts show up.” She started walking back to her people.

“So what’s your name?” Kya asked as they followed after her.

“It’s Tien,” she said. “Tien Trung.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONGRATULATIONS IT'S A CHARACTER REVEAL!!! :D
> 
> For anyone who's not a regular reader of mine, Tien is one of my (many, many, so many) OCs, and Nanyue is an Earth Kingdom province I made up and gave a very tragic and bloody ending to. For further reading on both, please check out my fics Bright and Bitter, Pure and Sweet, and Better Left Unsaid, and mind the warnings on both. Hama isn't the only person I wish I could give a better ending to.
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments and prompts guys! I'm having an absolute blast writing this story with you all! Feel free to keep leaving more! <3


	15. What are the dynamics like between the water tribe trio? And what's their relationship with Aang like?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're all probably under a lot of stress thanks to COVID-19 and I have some free time, so friendly reminder that I'm still accepting prompts for this AU! No promises on how quick I write, but I have some other prompts/inspirations that I'm gonna tackle in the next few days at least.
> 
> Prompt from Anonymous on Tumblr. This is unbeta'd and half-fresh-off-the-Google-doc. The other half has been sitting around for a month while I dealt with work and writer's block. :P
> 
> I'm not sure if I like this one much - I mean I do like it but idk I feel like I could've answered the prompt better. But I'm not being a perfectionist right now so I'm releasing this into the wild for my readers' consumption!

“Oh no.”

Aang stopped petting Momo to look up at Kya. She’d paused in sharpening her hunting knife to squint across the campfire at Hakoda and Bato, who were chatting quietly and using a stick to draw in the dirt. Well, Hakoda was drawing in the dirt. Bato was tilting his head and staring at whatever Hakoda was doing.

“...What?” Aang asked.

Kya gestured with her knife. “They’re _scheming.”_

Aang blinked.

“Well, Hakoda’s scheming,” Kya amended. “Bato isn’t much of a schemer, but unfortunately he’s a good and loyal assistant.”

Aang blinked again. “And...why is that bad?”

“Well, it’s not _always_ bad,” Kya backtracked. “I mean sometimes it’s good. Hakoda’s come up with lots of good ideas! Hunting traps, and better ways to train the dogs, and when he fights he can get...very imaginative.” She smiled fondly. “Also his ice dodging test was very impressive.”

“Okay,” said Aang, who still didn’t really understand what the big deal with ice dodging was. Momo made an annoyed chittering sound, and he scratched the lemur’s ears. “So what’s the bad part?”

Kya’s smile fell. “Nine times out of ten Hakoda’s planning is going towards a prank.”

“Oh, fun!”

 _“No, not fun._ He’s a master, Aang. He tried to lasso an arctic hippo. He put an octopus on his head and convinced his mother he was a water spirit. One time he released an arctic hen in town hall right before my father’s State of the Tribal Union. Remember those blubber bombs we used back when we got you off that prince’s ship? _We didn’t invent those for war, Aang.”_

“I’m getting the feeling you invented those for a _prank war,”_ Aang grinned.

Kya shuddered. “We do not speak of the Great Blubber Fiasco, Aang.”

Aang kicked his feet against the log they were sitting on. “It sounds like fun!”

“You would. You’re just an innocent kid. You haven’t been through the horrors that I’ve seen. The only people here for him to prank are you and me, Aang! I do not want to get caught up in” - she waved at Hakoda and Bato - “whatever this is!”

“Aw, c’mon Kya,” Aang wheedled, “you should have some fun. I bet you’re _great_ at pranks.”

“I’m _fantastic_ at pranks,” Kya said. “Unfortunately, _someone_ has to be the responsible one around here, and no one else seems to be volunteering so it’s gotta be me.”

Aang kicked his feet again, but it was more contemplative this time. “You _are_ really responsible,” he said quietly, in a way that sounded like he was saying _too responsible._

Kya shrugged. “Someone has to be,” she said again.

“We all can be!” Aang insisted. “Hakoda and Bato might be a little rambunctious, yeah, but they’re smart and helpful too and - well, they went ice dodging, didn’t they?” He might not understand ice dodging, but it seemed to be a good argument. “And I’m...a goofy kid, yeah, but I’m learning!” Just the other day he’d remembered to _not_ immediately blurt out that he was the Avatar to the first villager they met, that had to count for something, right? “You don’t have to feel like you’re the only responsible one here, Kya.”

She mulled it over. “You’re right,” she said after a moment, and she stood up.

“Uh...where are you going?”

“I’m going to see if the boys are coming up with anything _useful_ in that dirt, and if they aren’t I’m going to remind them that it’s their turn to do the laundry. Thanks, Aang.”

“You’re welcome!”

* * *

“They are...probably going to ban me from cooking for a while,” Hakoda said gloomily.

Aang watched Kya and Bato on the other side of the smoking remains of the campfire. They were all covered in dirt and so was dinner, but at least nothing was on fire anymore. “You did kinda start a grease fire. And make it worse. And ruin dinner.”

“I tried to fix it,” Hakoda grumbled. “How was I supposed to know you don’t pour water on it? It’s _fire._ Water puts out fire!”

“Not a grease fire!” Aang said cheerfully, examining the mechanism in his glider staff. “Doesn’t the Water Tribe cook with oil?”

“I’ll be honest, Kya and Bato cook more than I do,” Hakoda admitted. “I’m more of a cured meat kind of guy.”

“So water and oil don’t mix,” Aang said, opening and closing the glider wings. They hadn’t been hit by the flames, thank the spirits. “And oil is lighter than water and floats on top. So when you pour water on burning oil…”

“It sinks to the bottom of the pot,” Hakoda surmised. “And...explodes, apparently.” He thought it over. “Wait, no - it flash boils, doesn’t it? It boils and the steam tries to escape through the oil and ends up flinging burning oil everywhere.”

“That’s pretty much what happened,” Aang nodded. “Bato had the right idea throwing dirt on it after it spread, but next time just smother it with the lid to the cooking pot. Fire can’t burn if it can’t breathe!”

Hakoda stared at him. “...Aang, when you use your airbending to put out fires, are you _removing the oxygen from the air?”_

“Sometimes!”

_“Sometimes?”_

“I mean it’s really tricky and removing oxygen from an area can be dangerous, we need that to breathe you know!”

Hakoda stared at him. Aang busied himself with his glider, carefully opening and closing it, and waited for the questions about airbending that he wasn’t sure how he could answer. The little wooden mechanism that made the wings work was holding up alright, but Monk Gyatso had impressed the importance of proper glider maintenance onto him. Aang doubted there was anyone in the world who could fix it if it broke.

Hakoda watched the glider wings fan in and out a few times while he digested what Aang had just told him. Across the dead campfire, Kya was griping at Bato while she piled up fresh, non-oily kindling. Bato was nodding along to whatever she was saying while doing his best to rescue dinner.

“Hey, Aang?”

Aang looked up. “Yeah?”

Hakoda hesitated, and then he said, “So, grease fires. If there was more grease...and I’d thrown on more water...it would’ve been a bigger fireball, right?”

“Uh...probably?” Aang said. “I’ve never really experimented with it. Actually that’s the first grease fire fireball I’ve ever seen! And it was pretty impressive as it was.” He gestured at their ruined campsite.

Hakoda eyed the circle of soot. “There has _got_ to be a way to weaponize this.”

“NO!” Kya and Bato shouted, so loudly that Aang and Hakoda both jumped in their seats.

Aang recovered first. “They’re probably right,” he snickered, opening his glider wings again.

Hakoda sighed. “Yeah, probably.” On the other side of the campfire, Bato and Kya exchanged glances, rolled their eyes, and went back to their work, grumbling under their breath. Hakoda turned his attention back to Aang’s glider. “...So, have you ever taken that thing apart?”

Aang snapped the wings shut and held the staff close to his chest.

* * *

“And there they are, the future of my tribe,” Bato sighed. On the other side of the campfire, Hakoda and Kya were... _sparring_ was too dignified a word for it. Kya had lost her club and Hakoda had strategically thrown his machete to knock her boomerang off course half a minute ago, and the whole affair had devolved into something more suited to five-year-olds than to great warriors of the Water Tribe. There was hair-pulling involved.

“You’re the future too,” Aang said, biting into a fruit Bato didn’t know the name of and enjoying the show.

“Yeah, but they’re the future _politically,”_ Bato said, wincing when Hakoda dodged a punch Kya had aimed for his shoulder. That looked like it would’ve hurt had it landed.

“...What?” Aang asked.

“Kya’s dad is our tribe’s chief,” Bato said, watching said daughter of his chief practically flip Hakoda over her back. “And Hakoda is practically...his apprentice at this point. Kya’s got a head for leadership, but Hakoda has a passion for it. He’s been following Chief Oomailiq for years learning how to run a tribe.” Said political intern was desperately trying to get Kya in a headlock, to no avail.

“So...Hakoda’s gonna take over your tribe?” Aang asked.

“Well,” Bato said, “if he gets elected.”

“Is that hard?”

“It might be, but he’s getting plenty of experience under the chief, and he’s got a good track record on the few projects he’s helped with. Give him a few more years of leadership experience and I’d definitely feel confident voting for him.” 

“Will Kya run for chief?” Aang asked. “Since her dad is and all. I bet she could give him some stiff competition.” 

Kya had Hakoda in a headlock and was aggressively noogying him.

“She probably could, but she doesn’t want to,” Bato said. “She can take charge but she doesn’t want to be _in charge._ Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does,” Aang said. “Water Tribe politics sure are cool! I think it’s great you guys choose your own leaders. The Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation just kind of hand their thrones to whoever’s next.”

“That’s crazy,” Bato said. “What if the next person in line is an idiot? Or mean? Or just not a good leader?”

“You know, I _asked_ Kuzon and Bumi that once, and they looked at me like _I_ was the crazy one!”

There was a shout from their friends across the way - Hakoda had managed to catch Kya’s wrists in his hand, holding them up. She used the leverage he afforded her to kick him in the gut.

“How did the Air Nomads do it?” Bato asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Well, we had the councils,” Aang said. “Each temple had their own. They appointed their own members, but we could nominate people we wanted to see appointed.”

“Huh,” said Bato. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of that, but he wasn’t going to interrogate a 12-year-old genocide survivor on the intricacies of his people’s politics. Aang probably didn’t even fully understand his people’s government - and Bato didn’t want to remind the poor kid about yet another aspect of his culture he wouldn’t be able to resurrect. “That sounds interesting.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s probably closer to what the Northern Water Tribe does.”

“What the - _what?”_

“Uh...you know, how the Northern Water Tribe has their chief, who appoints his council members?”

“Wait, what - ?” Bato was only vaguely aware of Kya swiping Hakoda’s feet from under him. “What kind of a democracy _is that?”_

“Uh...I’m pretty sure chiefdom in the Northern Tribe is hereditary?” Aang said.

 _“What?”_ Miss Kanna had _definitely_ left that part out when she’d regaled their tribe’s children with tales of her distant homeland. To be fair, they would’ve found politics to be boring bedtime stories.

“Oh, hey, look, I think Kya won!”

Bato glanced across the campfire and had to do a double-take. Kya had pinned Hakoda to the ground, and was smiling down at him fondly. Hakoda looked far too relaxed for a man whose wrists were in a deathgrip, gazing up at Kya with a goofy grin.

“Oh my moon,” Bato groaned, reaching out to cover Aang’s eyes.

The kid dodged his hand easily. “I’m not a _baby,_ Bato, yeesh.”

“My tribe’s future power couple,” Bato sighed, gesturing at his dumb friends.

“I’m sure they’ll be great leaders,” Aang said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oomailiq - Inuit - leader of the boat, whaling captain
> 
> I really like the idea of Hakoda being an intern under Kya's dad, okay?
> 
> Important life lessons from fanfiction - never ever EVER put water on a grease fire, kids. For all the reasons laid out here. Feel free to look it up on youtube if you want a visual understanding. (Hakoda really wants to weaponize this. I'm not sure how to weaponize this. lol.)


	16. Swords! Ursa?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was inspired by apollonianism!
> 
> Still unbeta'd because I don't caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare~!
> 
> Also this took me forever to write cuz my computer wasn't agreeing with the wifi, but I think I fixed it by clearing my cache.

Ursa hadn’t expected much from the Winter Solstice ceremonies in her grandfather’s temple.

She’d expected maybe a little bit of pomp. A smidgen of circumstance. Solstices were important dates, after all, and her grandfather had been an important man, and with his reincarnation running around it was doubly important to honor him. So Fire Lord Azulon had sent Ursa off to Avatar Roku’s temple on Crescent Island to pay respect. Normally it was Ursa’s father or aunts or uncles doing this sort of thing, but Ursa was Avatar Roku’s granddaughter  _ and _ a soon-to-be Princess, so she was now obviously the best person for the job.

She expected the Fire Sages to greet her with the respect a young lady of her station required. She expected them to honor her as an important guest and a focal point for the rituals. She expected solemn ceremony, filial piety, and an all-around easy night.

She did  _ not _ expect to need her swords, but if her upcoming marriage into the royal family had taught her anything, it was that she should always have a weapon handy. Fire Lord Azulon was justifiably paranoid about assassination, and Princess Janya always had several knives up her sleeves despite being a Firebender. Ursa had followed in their example. Just in case.

This was a case.

“Was that an  _ explosion?” _ she yelped.

“They’re trying to break into the sanctum!” one of the Fire Sages exclaimed, and he and his fellows took off for the staircase. Ursa ran after them, refusing to be outdone by a bunch of old men. Not a single one of them told her she shouldn’t come - she was a Princess of the Fire Nation and the granddaughter of Avatar Roku, and her place was fighting at their side.

Fire Sage Kuzon met them halfway down the stairs to her grandfather’s sanctuary. “The Avatar’s inside,” he said grimly.

_ “What?” _ one of the other sages yelped. “How? He can’t possibly know firebending!”

“I don’t know,” Fire Sage Kuzon said, “but there’s been recent fire blasted into the door locks, and there’s a shadow moving inside. He got in.”

The other sages cursed, and four of them ran on up the stairs. The fifth only paused to tell Fire Sage Kuzon, “Don’t tire yourself, sir, we’ve got this,” before running after them.

Fire Sage Kuzon huffed. “I’m not  _ that _ old,” he muttered, but his next step was shaky.

“Let me help you,” Ursa said, taking his arm. If he’d gone up all these stairs to check on the sanctum, and then back down for help...that would be exhausting.

“Thank you, my dear,” he said, patting her hand, and together they made their way upwards.

They hadn’t gone very far when a shout came from below.  _ “Ursa?!” _

Ursa looked a few flights down and felt her heart stutter in her chest. “Ozai!”

She had  _ definitely _ not expected to see her fiance here. Ozai looked just as surprised - he gaped at her for a full three seconds before dashing up the next few flights, leaving behind the cadet and the squad of troops he had with him.

“Ursa!” he gasped when he finally caught up to her. “What are you  _ doing _ here?”

“I’m here for my grandfather,” she said. Fire Sage Kuzon kindly extricated himself from her arm, and she reached for Ozai. “What are  _ you _ doing here?”

He briefly allowed her to hug him before he shrugged her off, but he caught her hand in his and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “What else would I be doing here? I’m following the - where’s the Avatar?”

“In Avatar Roku’s sanctum,” Fire Sage Kuzon said gravely.

Ozai cursed. “We have to hurry. Zhao!” He turned and shouted back down the stairs. “Hurry up!”

There was grumbling from below.

“Prince Ozai,” Fire Sage Kuzon said, and Ozai and Ursa turned their attention back to him. He had Ozai fixed in a considering look. “Where is your brother?”

Ozai huffed and muttered something about hot springs.

“...Is Prince Iroh coming?” Fire Sage Kuzon pushed.

Ozai bristled. “No, but I’m here, and I can handle this myself!”

Fire Sage Kuzon released a breath that wasn’t quite a sigh. “Of that I have no doubt, my prince.”

There was a commotion from the stairs as Ozai’s troops caught up with them. “Come on,” Ozai snapped at them, “we need to hurry, the Avatar has breached the sanctum - ”

“Wow, I don’t even get an introduction?” the cadet grumbled.

“Zhao, Ursa, Ursa, Zhao,” Ozai snapped. “Let’s  _ go!” _ He charged up the stairs. Zhao brushed past Ursa, the soldiers followed after, and Ursa took Fire Sage Kuzon’s arm again.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s get up there.”

They arrived to find Ozai and four of his soldiers furiously blasting fire at the sanctuary doors, which were...glowing, because apparently that’s what happened when Avatars convened. Ursa took a moment to take stock of the situation - the five Fire Sages who’d already gone up were standing off to the side, resigned, watching Ozai’s efforts. The rest of Ozai’s squad had taken up positions throughout the hall. Cadet Zhao seemed to be standing guard by one of the columns, which had three people chained to it. Two men and a woman - well, two boys and a girl, they looked to be about Ursa’s age, and they were wearing the strangest clothes she’d ever seen. Strange cuts and strange accessories and  _ blue. _ Were these the Avatar’s Water Tribe companions? 

Well, it looked like they’d captured the Avatar’s entire crew rather neatly, minus the Avatar himself. Despite Ozai’s best efforts. Ursa looked back to where Ozai had just taken another inhale, and Fire Sage Kuzon stiffened for a moment as they watched fireblast after fireblast hit the metal dragons’ mouths. But the door remained stubbornly closed, and he released a shaky breath. “I’m afraid it’s no use,” he said quietly, even as Ozai’s fireblasts became more and more desperate. 

“Why not?” Ursa asked.

“It’s the light. The doors are sealed shut. Avatar Roku doesn’t want anyone inside.”

“Maybe my grandfather can help us,” Ursa said hopefully. “Maybe he’ll tell the Avatar to surrender.”

“Perhaps,” Fire Sage Kuzon hummed, and he patted Ursa’s hand. “Thank you for your help, my dear. I’m going to go check on things. Be careful, and don’t get in the way of the professionals please.” He headed towards the column where the Water Tribe people were chained up.

Ursa stayed toward the back of the room, where she hopefully wouldn’t be in the way, but would be able to jump into action if needed. She positioned herself so she could see the sanctum doors, the exit, and the captives all at once. The Water Tribe girl was looking at her, Ursa noted, but she didn’t deign to look back. Future Fire Nation princesses did not need to concern themselves with captive Water Tribe savages.

The girl was distracted shortly anyway, when Cadet Zhao held a fistful of flame in front of one of her companions’ faces.  _ That _ Ursa wasn’t sure she could ignore, but Fire Sage Kuzon intervened before she could decide what to do.

And that’s how Cadet Zhao wound up standing beside Ursa, watching Ozai very nearly burn himself out against some very stubborn metal dragons.

“Well, Princess Ursa,” Cadet Zhao said.

“I’m not a princess yet,” she admonished him.

He shrugged. “Are you having a nice Winter Solstice?”

“Are  _ you, _ Cadet?”

“It’s merry and bright,” he deadpanned back, shielding his eyes against the  _ glowing door. _

Ozai threw a few more useless fire blasts before he devolved into cursing up a storm. Oh dear. Well, maybe the anger would help him focus. Ozai was very good at channeling his frustrations into his firebending. But still...he had to be ready for whatever was coming.

Ursa took a few steps forward, pushing through the line of soldiers to take her fiance’s hand. “Hey,” she said gently.

Ozai froze mid-curse and stared at her fingers before looking back up at her. “...Hey,” he said back.

She smiled and squeezed his fingers. “We can do this. We can end this here, tonight.”

“We can,” Ozai nodded. “We  _ will.” _ He squeezed her hand back before dropping it and turning back to the doors. “When those doors open,” he shouted to his men, “unleash all your firebending power!”

Ursa slipped back through the line of soldiers to a safer distance, even as Zhao strode forward to take her place at Ozai’s side. She retreated farther back, back to the columns, kept her breathing steady just in case she needed to firebend. She could just barely hear one of the Water Tribe boys whisper “How’s Aang gonna make it out of this?” and the girl hiss back “How are  _ we _ gonna make it out of this?” Was the Avatar’s name Aang? Interesting. She didn’t think that was in any of the reports yet.

Her swords were a reassuring weight against her back, and she reached up and slid them out of their sheath with a flourish. Blades at the ready, she fixed her eyes on the door and waited. 

It felt like ages, but in reality it was only a minute before it happened.

The smoke started pouring from under the door first. Ursa stared at it in shock - was something on fire in there? Had the Avatar  _ set fire _ to her grandfather’s temple?

There was the sound of metal sliding on metal, and Ursa barely had time to register that the sanctuary doors were opening before the light hit her eyes. She squinted against it before she had to turn her face aside. In the blinding brilliance of it all, she glimpsed Fire Sage Kuzon and the Water Tribe prisoners doing the same.

From in front of her, she heard Ozai call out, “Ready…”

The light suddenly faded. Ursa blinked spots from her vision, and she looked up in time to see a pair of eerie, glowing eyes gazing at her from the darkness beyond the sanctuary doors.

One of the Water Tribe kids was shouting. “No! Aang!”

“FIRE!” Ozai roared, and he and the soldiers and Cadet Zhao all unleashed streams of flame at the Avatar.

The flames never hit. Instead, they swirled around into a sphere - a beautiful and dangerous defense tactic that master Firebenders used to intimidate their opponents and show off their prowess, one that drew strength from your enemy’s attack.

Ozai realized it the same second Ursa did, and he dropped his flames with a curse. Cadet Zhao and the soldiers were right behind him, they couldn’t give the Avatar more fuel to create a shield with.

_ But by all accounts the Avatar hasn’t learned firebending yet, _ Ursa thought, just as the swirling flames lifted.

Ursa expected the Avatar to look like what the reports said - young, bald, arrow tattoos, yellow clothes.

Instead, she found herself gaping at a very familiar man. One she’d never met, but whom she recognized immediately - from the portraits, from the statues, from her aunts’ and uncles’ recollections, from her family altar.

“Avatar Roku,” she heard Fire Sage Kuzon breathe.

Ursa’s grandfather brought the flames in close to his chest and flung them out at the assembled Firebenders. Ozai and Zhao and their men were thrown back, the Fire Sages cried out, the Water Tribe prisoners shrieked. Ursa watched the wall of flames barrel towards her and dropped her swords, swinging her arms forward to divert the inferno around her. The flames were hot enough to make her stagger back a few steps, to make Fire Sage Kuzon  _ curse, _ to disintegrate the chains that held the Water Tribe prisoners in place. Ursa’s dress singed - but her skin didn’t.

The fire blasted past her towards the wall of the temple, which it unceremoniously exploded. Ursa gaped over her shoulder at the destruction. People were screaming, running - she turned in time to see the Fire Sages bolting towards the stairs, to see Fire Sage Kuzon stumbling behind a column, to see Zhao shouting at soldiers to run, to see Ozai scrambling to his feet.

To see her grandfather chop his arm at the floor, and raise up  _ lava. _

“GO!” Zhao shouted, already out the exit.

Ursa grabbed her swords - the metal was burning hot to the touch, but her skin didn’t blister as she slid them back into their sheath. There was a chasm in the temple floor, a chasm rapidly widening filling up with fire and lava, and Ozai was on the other side.

“Ozai!” Ursa shouted, reaching for him. Ozai ran and jumped and very nearly didn’t make it, but Ursa grabbed his wrist in mid-air and yanked him forward. He fell on top of her, and they rolled away from the fiery pit.

“Come on,” he said, pulling her to her feet. “We have to get out of here. Come on!”

Ursa got to her feet and felt herself freeze, because her grandfather was staring  _ right at her. _ It was hard to read his face, what with the glowing eyes and all, but he didn’t look angry. He looked determined, and focused, and maybe a little bit the way her father looked when he was disappointed.

Then he raised his arms and a spike of lava erupted from the floor and blasted the ceiling off.

“Ursa, come on!” Ozai shouted, and she let him pull her down the stairs.

The lava rose. The temple fell. The Avatar got away.

This was not how Ursa expected the Winter Solstice to go.

She was bundled onto a ship in a daze - the volcano had been pushed into a  _ premature eruption, _ it wasn’t safe to stay on the island. Ozai stalked around the deck barking orders, and Zhao marched around shouting other orders, and Ursa sat down on a convenient barrel and watched her grandfather’s temple burn to the ground.

Eventually, she became aware of another person standing beside her. She looked up to find Ozai, awkwardly holding a steaming cup. “...Ursa?” he asked.

She opened her mouth, realized she had nothing to say, and closed it.

Ozai pressed the cup into her hand. She sniffed it. “Not coffee?” she asked. The words felt stunted in her mouth, but it was all she could manage.

“It’s jasmine tea,” Ozai said, only bristling a  _ little. _ “Iroh says it’s calming.”

Ursa felt perfectly calm. So very calm. Too calm.

She had a sip.

“Are you okay?” Ozai asked after a moment.

She took a breath. “That - that was - ”

“Frightening?” Ozai suggested. “Dangerous? More powerful than we were expecting?”

_ “That was my grandfather.” _

Ozai stared at her. Ursa took another sip of tea.

“Ozai, my grandfather just - he just - he - ” She gestured at the ruined temple.  _ “Why?” _

Ozai leaned over and wrapped his hands around hers where they were wrapped around the teacup.

“Prince Ozai,” someone said, and they turned to see Fire Sage Kuzon hobbling towards them. Ursa was glad to see him - she hadn’t seen him escape the temple. “I saw the Avatar escape. He was heading northeast.”

Ozai dropped Ursa’s hands. “You’re certain?”

“Yes, my prince.”

Ozai nodded. “We need to get the Lady Ursa back on her own ship.” He gestured towards the ship that’d brought Ursa to the island in the first place, which was thankfully not sunken by the volcanic destruction. “She needs rest, and someone needs to report back to my father.”

Fire Sage Kuzon nodded. “It will be my honor to assist her, sir.”

Ursa reached for her fiance’s retreating hand. “Ozai…”

He leaned in close to her face. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I have to go.  _ You _ have to go. We both have duties to fulfill, and we can’t waste time.”

She closed her eyes against the tears that’d suddenly decided to spring up and nodded her head. She felt Ozai’s lips brush her forehead.

“Take care of yourself,” he whispered. “I’ll see you again.”

“Please be careful,” she whispered back.

“I will.”

She was bundled onto her own ship and refused to leave the deck until the sun had fully set and it was too dark to see Ozai’s ship heading northeast. 

“What an eventful Winter Solstice,” Fire Sage Kuzon tutted, bouncing on his toes just a little. The other Fire Sages had gone below deck a while ago, with a servant who had to find a place for the unexpected guests to sleep. Ursa could feel tiredness creeping over herself - the first thing she’d  _ been able _ to feel, besides shock and confusion, in over an hour.

Ironically, despite his old age and busy evening, Fire Sage Kuzon seemed to have more energy than anyone else on this ship right now. Maybe his adrenaline hadn’t worn off yet.

“Are you alright?” he asked her gently.

Ursa looked up at the night sky. There weren’t any stars. The smoke from the eruption was blocking them out. “Fire Sage Kuzon,” she said, speaking slowly, “why did my grandfather destroy his temple?”

Fire Sage Kuzon was silent for a moment. “That  _ is _ the question, isn’t it?” he said at last. “Why indeed?”

Ursa kept staring at the starless sky.

“Why do  _ you _ think he destroyed the temple?”

“I don’t...I don’t  _ know,” _ she said, a little upset, because that’s why she was asking  _ him. _ He was the Fire Sage, he was supposed to know these things! “But…”

“...But?”

“He looked upset,” she blurted out.

“Hm.”

“He looked upset, and I don’t know  _ why.” _

“Perhaps the Fire Sages haven’t honored him properly,” Fire Sage Kuzon hummed. “I’ll have to meditate on it.”

“Maybe.” Ursa wiped at her eyes. 

“Are you alright?” Fire Sage Kuzon asked, concerned.

“I’m fine. I’m fine, I just - he looked at me.” She wiped her eyes again. “He looked at me, and he looked upset.” It was stupid, so stupid, she shouldn’t be crying over this. It wasn’t like she’d ever desperately wanted to meet her grandfather - he was dead and gone, and she had other grandparents and other family members and she had a happy life. She’d never needed him in it. But now it was the first time she’d ever met him, and he’d been  _ upset, _ and she didn’t know  _ why. _

She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home to Hira’a and leave offerings and bow before the family shrine.

“Come, my dear,” Fire Sage Kuzon said gently, guiding her inside towards her cabin. “Let’s get you some rest, yes? You’ve had a hard evening.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, would you look at that? I gave Ursa an existential crisis a whole season before her son got his! Wow I really am making things happen early in this, aren't I? Lol.
> 
> Also, Kuzon being sneaky in the background, haha. So hard to write him being a traitor when the POV character isn't allowed to notice.
> 
> Urzai is such an awkward ship, someone please help them.
> 
> Prompts are still open! Don't be shy, feel free to leave some!


	17. The kids have the first news of the tribe Hama’s heard in decades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyta mentioned in one of their comments that the Gaang is the first news Hama's heard from her homeland in decades, and I wanted to do something with that.

“So if you’re Anana’s kid, who’re the rest of you?”

They’d settled themselves into Hama’s camp, for several reasons. It was farther back in the island’s trees, providing more cover from any Fire Navy ships that might be searching for them. It was already set up and decently stocked with supplies Hama said she got from a neighboring island that actually had a population. And it was  _ Hama’s, _ and she’d offered it to them, the only thing she  _ could _ offer them, the only thing she’d been able to offer her tribe in over two decades, and it would be unnecessarily cruel to brush that aside.

So Appa had settled into the undergrowth and gone right to sleep, and Aang had laid himself down on the bison’s massive leg and watched the rest of them curiously, and the Water Tribe teens had arranged their sleeping bags around Hama’s firepit. It was a shame they couldn’t light it - a night with your tribe around a campfire was just a part of daily life in the South Pole, and would’ve given them some grounding sense of normalcy.

Hama looked like she could use that right now. The full moon gave enough light to see by, at least, and she kept staring at them all like she couldn’t believe they were actually there. They all shared their food - a basic community practice in the Water Tribe, one that nearly reduced Hama to tears when she bit into blubbered seal jerky for the first time in decades. The kids tried the little shriveled fruits that were not unlike sea prunes, which Hama said were ocean kumquats. Aang had immediately decided he wasn’t a fan, but the Water Tribe teens had decided they were good. Not as good as actual sea prunes, but passable. And they had water now too, wonder of wonders - Aang had mentioned that Appa was probably thirsty and that their own waterskins were running low, and Hama had immediately gone to the sea. She’d come back with enough desalinated water to create an ice trough and fill it, leaving the kids gaping in awe. She’d given Aang and Appa some curious looks while the bison had drunk his fill, but she hadn’t asked any questions - her attention had soon been taken up with the Water Tribe kids.

“I’m Kya,” Kya said between bites of ocean kumquat. “Chief Oomailiq and Buniq’s daughter.”

Hama stared at her. “...Where do I even  _ start _ with that?” she said at last. “Buniq’s a  _ baby.” _

Kya snorted. “Mom’s forty.”

“Tides, I’m old,” Hama muttered. “And  _ Chief _ Oomailiq? Actually, no, that makes sense, kid always did have a good head on his shoulders. When did he get elected?”

“The first time? Ten years ago,” Kya said proudly.

“He keeps getting reelected?”

“He’s a good leader.”

Hama nodded, looking a little dazed at the fact that someone she only remembered as a teenager was now her tribe’s chief. “Good for him. What...what happened to Chief Akkikiktok?”

“Uh,” said Bato, “she retired.”

_ “And?” _

“...Polar bear-dog,” Bato muttered. “It was years ago, we were just little kids. It spent a week prowling around the village, nearly killed my aunt. Akkikitok went out and took care of it before it could try to get anyone else.”

“Sounds like her,” Hama whispered. “At least it wasn’t the Fire Nation.”

“There haven’t been any raids,” Hakoda said quietly. “Not since...you left.”

_ “Good,” _ Hama said fiercely. “That was the  _ point. _ I only surrendered because they said they’d leave the rest of the tribe alone.”

“We see their ships sometimes,” Kya said. “Not often. They’ll just...sail by the edge of the ice fields. But they never attack.”

“Probably because there’s nothing left worth attacking,” Hakoda muttered.

Hama grimaced. “I don’t know if I should be insulted or relieved. Are...aren’t there any Waterbenders now? Have any been born?”

“No,” Kya said quietly. “Not in any of the tribes. You were the last one.”

Hama closed her eyes. “Damn,” she whispered.

“...If you don’t mind me asking,” Kya said, “how did you escape?”

Hama took a deep breath. “I really can’t talk about that. Not right now.”

“That’s okay,” Kya said quickly. “You don’t have to. But...can you just tell us...did anyone else…?”

“No,” Hama said shortly. “No, I was the only one who got out. And there’s no way to save the others.”

The kids all perked up. “The others?” Kya repeated. “Are they - ”

“They kept us alive,” Hama said darkly. She looked at Kya. “If you’re Buniq’s daughter...that means you’re Arrluk’s granddaughter.”

Kya jolted. “Is - is he - ?”

“He’s alive,” Hama said. “Or he was when I left, at any rate.”

Kya put a hand to her mouth and started crying. Hakoda scooted to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Is there any way we could help them?” he asked, while Kya got her tears under control.

“I cannot even  _ begin _ to list all the ways that’s impossible,” Hama said.

“But  _ you _ got out.”

“And I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.” Hama frowned at him. “So whose kid are  _ you, _ then?”

Hakoda straightened. “Uh...you know my mom. She said you were close friends. Kanna?”

Hama went completely still.

“And my dad’s Iluak,” Hakoda added.

_ “Kanna?” _ Hama croaked, looking Hakoda up and down.

“Yeah.”

Hama took a breath. And another, and another, very fast. “You’re  _ Kanna’s _ kid?”

“Yeah...”

All three teens were looking at her curiously now, Kya having wiped away the last of her tears. Aang even sat up on Appa’s leg to say, “Hey, you’re, uh...breathing a little fast there. Are you okay?”

Hama looked on the verge of hyperventilating. “And she married  _ Iluak?” _ It wasn’t  _ quite _ a shriek.

“Uh,” said Hakoda, “yeah?”

_ “Iluak?” _

Hakoda looked at his friends helplessly.

“Cousin,” Bato said gently, “are you okay?”

_ “Fine,” _ Hama bit out, still panting. “Would you excuse me?” She grabbed a clay jar from her pile of empties and stalked toward the beach.

“...What was  _ that _ about?” Hakoda asked.

“No idea,” Bato said.

“Mom never said Dad and Hama didn’t get along!”

Kya opened her mouth, seemed to think for a moment, and closed it.

“Maybe your mom just...didn’t want to speak ill of the...captured?” Bato offered.

Kya opened her mouth again, only to close it again and put a hand to the lower half of her face and inhale around her fingers.

“...Kya?” Hakoda asked.

“Nope,” Kya muttered, “no idea.”

She didn’t look at either of the boys, but Aang caught her gaze. They exchanged a pair of looks that Hakoda couldn’t decipher - Kya’s face was blank, and Aang looked slightly amused - but then Aang’s eyes flitted towards the beach. “Whoa,” he breathed. “Now  _ that’s _ waterbending!”

The kids all turned to see streams of water flinging themselves out of the ocean to swirl around one emaciated Waterbender, who was spinning around in the sand like some kind of frustrated liquid tornado.

“...She’s more upset about your dad than she was when I told her my grandfather was dead,” Bato said.

Hakoda put his face in his hands and groaned.  _ “Why?” _

Kya sighed.

“Do you think she’s gonna hate me?” Hakoda asked. “She’s supposed to be, like, my  _ aunt, _ and now she’s gonna hate me!”

“She’s not gonna hate you,” Bato said, but he didn’t sound sure.

“What does she even have against my dad, anyway?”

There was a shout from the beach, and they looked back to see Hama fling the empty clay jar up into the air. The water streams followed it, and it shattered on impact. The clay shards rained down on the sand while Hama stared out at the ocean.

“Welp,” said Hakoda, “she hates me.”

“She’s coming back,” said Bato.

Hama was, indeed, coming back. She grabbed another jar -  _ not _ an empty one - and ripped off its seal to chug several gulps of its contents while the kids stared.

“...Sorry about that,” she said after a moment, wiping her chin. “I just...was not expecting to hear that Kanna got...married.” She had another sip of whatever was in that jar. “She was pretty adamant about  _ not _ getting married, after running away from the North.” Another sip. “What on earth possessed her to marry  _ Iluak?” _

“Uh,” said Hakoda, “Dad says he won her over with his sense of humor…?”

“His sense of - oh my  _ moon,” _ Hama said, and she turned around and stalked right back out to the beach.

“She hates me,” Hakoda said miserably.

“She’ll get over it,” Kya said. “Give her some time.”

Hama came back again after just a few minutes. “Sorry,” she said again. “It’s been a weird night.”

“You’re telling us,” Aang muttered, doubtlessly thinking about everything that’d happened back at the temple that evening. And the flight to the Fire Nation that’d taken up the whole day. And the whole Hei Bai debacle last night. It’d been a weird seventy-two hours.

“So,” Hama said, fixing Hakoda with eyes that were now slightly glazed-over. “You’re Kanna’s kid.”

“Uh,” said Hakoda, “yeah.”

She stared at him. “...You have her eyes,” she said at last. 

“Uh...thanks?”

“How...how is she?”

“She’s...she’s good.”

“Is she happy?”

“Uh...for the most part, yeah?” Hakoda rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, she probably misses me, it’s been a while since I’ve seen her, and - ”

Hama immediately straightened, eyes becoming more lucid. “Since you - oh, gods,  _ no. _ No, no, no, don’t tell me, don’t tell me you - they - what are you kids even  _ doing _ here?”

“What?” Hakoda asked.

_ “Why are you here?” _ Hama demanded. “In the Fire Nation? Are you kids alright, what - what happened? Were you captured? Who took you?”

“Uh, no,” Hakoda said, “we weren’t captured, we’re okay!” He ignored the look Bato shot him, which was very clearly meant to remind him that they had been captured  _ several _ times since starting on their adventure, but Hakoda didn’t think Hama needed to know that right now. “We’re on a mission!” he added, very seriously.

“A mission,” Hama repeated. “Why are a bunch of teenagers on a  _ mission?” _

“We were kind of the only people available and time was of the essence - ”

Hama had another sip of whatever was in that jar. “What kind of mission brings a bunch of kids to the Fire Nation?”

“Actually this was just a detour,” Kya said. “We’re trying to get to the North Pole.”

“The North -  _ why?” _ Hama blurted. “Did they send you kids for help? The North don’t give a turtle-seal’s shit about us! They  _ abandoned _ us, they secured their own border and left us at the Fire Nation’s mercy!”

“Yeah,” Bato said, “but Aang needs to learn waterbending.”

Hama blinked at him. Then she looked past him at Aang, who was still reclining on Appa’s leg. He gave her a little wave. “Hi! I’m Aang.”

Hama stared at Aang’s yellow clothes, and his glider staff, and his sky bison. “...What?”

“I’m the Avatar,” Aang said sheepishly.

_ “...What?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hakoda: WHY is my mom's old BFF freaking out so much about my existence??  
> Bato: Idk man that's so weird!  
> Kya & Aang: .......Do we tell him or do we let him figure this out on his own?
> 
> Names! I have a limited amount of Inuit names to pull from - I'm pretty sure there's only one Inuit baby name list on the internet that all other baby name sites pull from, it's technically a site for dog names, idk how accurate it is because Native American names are hard to verify thanks to 1950s dime novels just making stuff up, and I'm pretty sure all ATLA fanwriters who work with Water Tribe OCs use it. Heck I'm pretty sure Bryke even used it, half the TLoK tribe members' names are on there.
> 
> Anyway, all that to say that I'm having an interesting time naming OCs, and if it's a background character we're never gonna actually see I'm taking the opportunity to give them a longer name with an odder meaning so I can keep the cooler meanings for OCs I might actually wanna use long-term and develop someday.
> 
> Akkikiktok - Inuit - costs little (I like the sound, and I didn't wanna go crazy over a background OC, so I just put a little effort into finding her name, lol)  
> Buniq - Inuit - sweet daughter  
> Iluak - Inuit - person who does good things  
> Arrluk - Inuit - orca/killer whale
> 
> The name Arrluk has a special meaning to me - it's the name of one of Rufftoon's OCs in her comic Water Tribe. (Which you should [totally check out](https://www.deviantart.com/noselfcontrol/art/Water-Tribe-001-69837313) if you've never read or heard of it - Rufftoon was a storyboard artist (or something) for ATLA, so her art looks exactly like the show, and her character design is impeccable. I'm not sure if she was involved in Zhao's design or if she otherwise worked on him, but he was one of her favorite characters and she loved exploring his disaster of a personality in her fanart. Water Tribe was a fun project she did to practice long-term storytelling, featuring a surviving amnesiac Zhao and some pretty cool worldbuilding.) 
> 
> Arrluk was a fun character and probably one of my faves, and every time I go looking for names and see that one I think no, I can't use that, there's already an Arrluk! It's a cool name, so I wanted to use it *someday* - as a shout-out to Water Tribe, even! But I never wanted to use it for a throwaway character, and I also didn't want to use it for an OC who would be a main character either. I think I can use it for Kya's grandfather, though - he's important, relevant, and also absent. Perfect combo! :D


	18. Did Aang still get to have an adventure into the spirit world and meet Hei Bai?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by apollonianism!

“Okay,” Hakoda said when the sun came up and neither Aang nor Kya came with it. “Okay, let’s just...remain calm...and…”

Bato waited for his friend to gather his thoughts. Hakoda was the one with _ideas,_ who could give you a direction and a purpose and make things _happen._ Bato didn’t have any of those right now, but he trusted Hakoda would.

“Can we track it?” Hakoda wondered, looking at the path that led out of Senlin village into the forest.

“It’s a spirit,” Bato said dubiously. “I don’t think it left footprints.”

Hakoda took a few steps forward, squinting at the ground. “...Yeah,” he conceded. “Something that big _should_ be heavy enough to leave tracks, but…”

“Nothing,” Bato said grimly.

Hakoda straightened up and stared down the path into the forest. “Well,” he said after a moment, “we know what direction they were headed.”

“And we have a flying bison.”

Hakoda grinned at him. “Exactly.”

Even with Appa’s help, however, they didn’t have any luck finding their friends.

“I don’t like this,” Bato said after an hour of searching. He was leaning over the front of Appa’s saddle, peering down at the burnt forest below. “If they’d been taken by a regular animal, there would’ve been...something by now. A trail. Signs of a fight. _Anything._ But it’s like they just…”

“Disappeared into thin air,” Hakoda nodded, his knuckles white around Appa’s reins.

“Yeah. Without a trace.”

Hakoda was silent for a moment. “Do you remember anything your grandfather might’ve said about spirits? Something that might help?”

Bato snorted. “Respect them. Don’t dishonor them. If you anger them, throw yourself down and pray for mercy.” The Southern Water Tribe wasn’t exactly a spiritual hub these days. Their most powerful shamans had been Waterbenders, and those traditions had been stolen away decades ago. Bato’s grandfather and the other non-bender shamans had done their best to make up for the spiritual imbalance, but it was like trying to stop the tides from changing the shoreline. Despite their efforts, the celestial lights had dimmed as spirits stopped dancing in the sky, and dark shadows had started roaming the tundra.

“Is there any way to pacify an angry spirit?” Hakoda asked, even though Bato knew he already knew the answer.

“A Waterbender shaman could do it. I don’t know about us.”

Hakoda nodded. “Who knows if it would even work here, anyway?” he said. “This is an _Earth Kingdom_ spirit.”

“Yeah,” Bato said, peering down at a road winding through the forest below them.

“Really that’s the only reason I’m not completely freaking out,” Hakoda added, sounding like he might be slightly freaking out. “It was an Earth Kingdom spirit that took Kya, not one of ours, maybe it has different rules, it’s not like she got taken by _Amaroq.”_ The giant wolf spirit was a fierce fighter and a wise mentor in their legends, but he also dealt out stern punishments and lessons. If you were foolish enough to go hunting alone at night, Amaroq would take you, and he wouldn’t give you back. “And Aang’s the Avatar, right? If he’s really the great bridge between our world and the spirits, then...he should be able to do something...right?”

“Right,” Bato said. “That’s a good point. Uh...hey, what’s that?” He leaned further over the edge of the saddle, pointing down past Hakoda. There were a pair of figures down on the road riding large animals. “Do you think maybe they’ve seen...oh _ashes,”_ he broke off when it became clear that the animals were Komodo rhinos, and the figures riding them were wearing red armor.

“Up, up, up!” Hakoda ordered Appa, who swiftly slapped his tail to the wind and ascended. “Good boy, come on, faster, get us above that cloud! Bato, did they see us?”

“I don’t know,” Bato said, feeling sick. “Think it’s the princes?”

“Who _else_ would it be? We need to make sure we don’t lead them back to the village. Come on, Appa, yip yip!”

* * *

Ozai stared at the giant bison as it flew away. “The Avatar,” he said, and turned his rhino around.

“Uh,” said Zhao, “your brother and Sifu Jeong Jeong are _this_ way.” He gestured pointedly at the ostrich-horse tracks they’d been following.

Ozai scowled at the tracks. “My brother,” he said haughtily, “and Admiral Jeong Jeong are grown men, master Firebenders, accomplished military leaders, and _complete idiots_ for getting themselves into this situation in the first place!”

Zhao snorted. “So...they can get themselves out of this mess?”

 _“Yes!”_ Ozai snapped. “Come on, the Avatar’s our priority. Iroh is fully capable of saving himself, and if he isn’t Father will forgive me.” As long as Ozai had the Avatar to show for it, anyway.

“Whatever you say, my prince,” Zhao said, turning his own rhino around and following Ozai. “I have to say though, it feels kind of... _wrong,_ just abandoning the crown prince and my teacher like this…”

“They’re both probably naked.”

 _“Okay,_ let’s go after the Avatar!”

* * *

“Bah, I was hoping Ozai would come and rescue me,” Iroh sighed, searching the Earthbender captain’s corpse for the keys to his chains. “It would have been a wonderful family bonding activity!”

“This is my punishment for allowing you to talk me into a hot spring,” Jeong Jeong muttered.

Iroh produced the keys with a flourish. “Now Jeong Jeong, you know how important it is to enjoy the finer things in life! You have to take some time to relax.”

“Iroh, they were going to _kill us,_ and we are on a mission to hunt down our nation’s greatest threat.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t take a break every so often,” Iroh said sagely, freeing himself from his chains and passing the key to Jeong Jeong. “If my grandparents taught me anything, it was that we must live _all_ aspects of life to the fullest - both work and pleasure!”

“If your grandmother taught you anything, it was how to flirt with every girl you see,” Jeong Jeong muttered, tossing his chains to the ground. Then he started on the nearest dead Earthbender.

“...Jeong Jeong, what are you doing?” Iroh asked, just in time for the Earthbender’s shirt to hit his face.

“Put that on.”

“Jeong Jeong!” Iroh exclaimed, pulling the shirt off his head. “We ought to have some respect!”

“What a sense of humor you have, Iroh. Remind me, what was that approved strategy for Nanyue that we were fully planning to enact just a month ago? I don’t seem to remember it being very respectful.”

Iroh looked uncomfortable. “My father was just being thorough in his planning,” he said. “I doubt it’d truly go _that_ far. Also,” he lifted the shirt with a huff, “it’s _green.”_

Jeong Jeong scowled at him. “Iroh, I have had to look at your - perfectly sculpted chest for the _entire damn day._ Put on the Agni-forsaken shirt!”

Iroh smirked. “You didn’t _have_ to look at me…”

_“Iroh!”_

After they took the clothes, they took the Earthbenders’ ostrich-horses. “Hopefully it does not take us too long to get back to the ship!” Iroh said cheerfully. “I could definitely use a calming cup of jasmine tea after this misadventure! Won’t Ozai be disappointed when he hears of all the fun he missed out on?”

* * *

“What do you _mean,_ Ozai left without us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeong Jeong really regrets not running away screaming the first time he met Iroh back when they were like thirteen.
> 
> It is REALLY FUN sprinkling the original Gaang's parallels amongst their parents. Here we see Ozai in the same exact situation Zuko faced in canon - and making the opposite decision, because screw you Iroh I'm going for glory here. XD


	19. Obviously Zhao hasn't been to Wan Shi Tong's library yet, so... what will be replacing the Moonslayer Incident?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by Anonymous on Tumblr! This one forced me to seriously consider some plot point timeline things, so thanks for that Anon. :P
> 
> Also, the key word in that question was _yet_...

Hama didn’t like the desert.

Intense heat, dry air, not a drop of water to be seen for miles. It reminded her far too much of the hell she’d escaped, the hell she’d abandoned _(their choice! they refused!)_ her fellow Waterbenders to. The only difference was that here she wasn’t in a cage.

Well, alright, that wasn’t the only difference. There was also the fact that for the last few days they’d been sheltering in a library straight out of spirit tales, hosted by an owl spirit so massive he could probably give Amaroq a run for his money, and his persistent little foxes.

One of whom was staring up at Hama with imploringly huge eyes, whining.

“We’ve been over this,” she said firmly, looking back at the book in her hands. “I made it very clear to your master that I am not going to share that knowledge. He accepted the other payments we offered. This matter is _closed.”_

The fox barked.

Hama huffed back at it. Whatever it wanted, it couldn’t possibly be more important than - she looked back at the book she hadn’t really been reading - than Methods of the Caj-Bolorian Tribes in Taming Wild Takhi-Goats, And the Uses Thereof.

What the hell was a takhi-goat?

She should’ve stuck with the plantbending scrolls, even if there weren’t any plants to practice on here. She missed the swamp. It was by far the nicest place the kids had dragged her to so far. This damn desert was definitely the worst.

The fox wasn’t done with her, though. It barked again.

“What?” she snapped at it. “Did Hakoda fall down a well?” Actually that was a worrisome thought. Hakoda had taken to this library like a polar bear-dog took to water, and he’d spent the last few days voraciously reading everything he could reach. He’d been trying to map the whole place out, too, because giant omniscient spirit owls didn’t have a need for proper maps or catalogues of their premises.

The fox snarled, but it sounded more aggravated than aggressive. And then it surged forward and caught her skirt in its mouth.

“Whoa!” Hama said, dropping the book in her shock. The fox managed to pull her forward a few feet before she got her balance and stood firm. “What on earth - what’s _wrong_ with - ” She broke off then, as the fox dropped her skirt and whined again. No, not a whine. A whimper. “What’s wrong?” Hama demanded, and the fox took off running. Hama followed, patting her waterskin to reassure herself it was still there, meager though its contents felt in a place this dry.

She expected - _hoped_ \- for something simple. Something ridiculous. Something in-character for the headstrong children who’d wormed their way into her shriveled heart. Hakoda had uncovered a tome of ancient but still-viable pranks. Kya had gotten her boomerang stuck in the architecture. Bato had...actually no Bato was decently responsible and rarely ever _caused_ trouble, only followed others into it. Hama supposed she had Anana to both thank and blame for that. Maybe Aang was having a meltdown over some Air Nomad history?

She was not expecting the fox to lead her to a wing of the library labeled _Fire,_ nor for the shelves there to _actually be on fire._

“What the hell?” she blurted, uncorking her waterskin, and that was when the teenager came striding out of the flames.

“Ah,” he said, probably trying to sound completely collected and unfazed but actually sounding like a snot-nosed brat who practiced witty one-liners in front of a mirror, “the Avatar’s waterbending teacher. I suppose that means your charge isn’t too far behind? This trip is proving even more productive than I was expecting.”

 _I’m not his teacher,_ Hama wanted to snap, but she didn’t, because every bit of information the Fire Nation didn’t have was an advantage. 

A Firebender stood in Wan Shi Tong’s Library. Hama wondered how many advantages they’d just lost.

“You’re a long way from the ocean, Naval Cadet,” she said, water flowing up her arms.

Cadet Zhao smirked. “So are you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of wanted to continue this one, but I also don't want to get caught up in it, I'm thrilled I managed so much in something so short, and frankly that's a really good endpoint. So I'm stopping this prompt here, but feel free to ask any questions you have about the situation! The timeline's going a little off the rails here, but we'll get back on them eventually!
> 
> I am currently on my weekend so I'm gonna try to get some more writing done. Also I'm having a not-so-great time with work and stuff this week (I mean who isn't? thanks Corona), so any comments or prompts left would mean a lot, especially since the hit counts aren't gonna be accurate with all the stress on the servers right now. <3
> 
> Also, since [AO3 is going under some stress with the uptick in traffic](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/15379), I'd like to say I have a few AO3 invites to share. If you want to create an account, please send me an ask on the [Early Birds Tumblr](https://earlybirds-atla-au.tumblr.com/) with your email address.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Wash your hands! <3


	20. everyone collectively deciding to skip the Great Divide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by TheEmeraldDoe.
> 
> It's _tactical_ skipping, thank you very much. XD

“Here it is! The Great Divide!”

The Water Tribespeople all stared at the massive canyon. They hadn’t gotten a good look at it when they’d made camp the night before, but now the rocks and cliffs were bathed orange and pink in the light of sunrise.

“Well that’s different,” Hakoda said.

“It’s a...really big hole,” Bato added.

Aang grinned and turned his attention back to loading their supplies on Appa’s saddle. “Isn’t it cool? It’s the biggest canyon in the Earth Kingdom!”

“It’s breathtaking, Aang,” Kya said. “And it definitely looks like a place that belongs in the Earth Kingdom.” 

“How do you even  _ get _ a hole this big?” Hakoda wondered. “Is the ground here just unstable?”

Aang laughed. “No, it didn’t just collapse on itself! The ground’s stable...well, maybe not right by the edge.”

Bato took a step back, still looking down. “There’s a river,” he observed, peering at a thread of green-blue winding through the bottom of the canyon.

Aang grinned. “Yep.”

It took Hakoda a moment, but then his eyes widened. “Wait, did that little river  _ create this?” _

“It only looks little from up here,” said Aang. “And yeah, that’s the theory! Though I’ve also heard the canyon was formed by angry spirits who were fighting each other.”

“But this is  _ huge!” _ Hakoda said, flinging his arm out at the landscape. “How did one river manage to carve out all  _ this?” _ The canyon was deep and wide and long.

Aang began to answer, but Hama beat him to it. “Don’t be so surprised, Hakoda,” she said. “Water is the element of change. It adapts to its environment and it transforms its surroundings, and it’s stubborn as hell.” She was standing precariously close to the cliffedge, staring down at the river below with a proud look. “Never underestimate the power of water.”

All the kids liked to think that they knew better than that by now, after a few months of travelling with Hama.

“That’s kind of funny,” Kya said. “Here I was thinking this place was  _ definitely _ Earth Kingdom, but it was created by water.”

“Well, water and a few million years,” Aang said, and he floated from the saddle to Appa’s head to check the reins. “Anyway, we’re gonna have to fly over it to the other side so we can keep heading north.”

“We’re crossing  _ this?” _ Bato said.

“Yeah, I told you guys last night when we were talking about our route, remember?”

“Yeah, but…” Bato looked at the canyon, across to the other side. Looked to the left and the right, which was still a canyon for as far as the eye could see. “I didn’t realize how  _ big _ it was.”

Aang grinned. “Don’t worry! It’ll take ten minutes tops on a flying bison!”

“That’s not what I - I mean,  _ we’re _ crossing this, so the Fire Nation will have to…” Bato was still staring at the canyon. “Holy schist.” An Earth Kingdom epithet seemed appropriate for the situation.

“Aang,” Kya said, “how big  _ is _ this canyon?”

Aang tapped his chin, theatrically thinking. “Well if I remember correctly...it’s over a mile deep, and about ten miles wide. And almost three hundred miles long!”

“And where are we, in terms of the length?” Hama asked, looking amused.

Aang grinned cheekily. “Right in the middle. Sure is a shame the Fire Nation can’t fly, huh?”

Hakoda burst out laughing. “Aang you’re  _ brilliant! _ Can you imagine what the princes are gonna think when they get here? Oh man I wish I could see their stupid  _ faces!” _

“Holy  _ schist,” _ Bato said again, grinning.

“Talk about a roadblock,” Kya snerked.

Hama shook her head, smiling. “Come on,” she said, clambering aboard Appa. “Much as I’d love to see their faces, I don’t want to stick around to see the rest of them. Let’s get out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda basing the Great Divide's dimensions off of the Grand Canyon's, but also a little off of Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, which is longer and deeper. Couldn't find a width for Yarlung Tsangpo tho. Of course, Aang isn't a walking textbook, he only knows general dimensions, so I reserve the right to change these if I decide on different numbers someday. :P
> 
> Also I find it interesting that in The Great Divide, Katara calls it "the biggest canyon in the world", whereas in The Ember Island Players it's called "the biggest canyon in the Earth Kingdom." Idk if Katara, not being all-knowing, wasn't aware of larger canyons, or if the Fire Nation, in a fit of propaganda, have their own canyon somewhere they'd like to claim is bigger. I'm kinda leaning towards maybe worldbuilding a bigger canyon somewhere in Air Nomad territory, one based more definitively on Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet. Actually, that might be an idea for the Western Air Temple...we'll see if I do anything with that in the future.
> 
> Also also, water feels. <3


	21. The kids come down with a bad case of Never Meet Your Heroes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was prompted by something Lyta said in a comment. Been meaning to do this one for a while, and I need to establish some stuff about Hama before I go ahead with some more stuff for Hama. So here we go, tally-ho!
> 
> Warnings for drinking problems and a bit of gore concerning minor but painful hand wounds.

“It takes some getting used to,” Bato said, watching his cousin gape over the side of Appa’s saddle. “But it’s pretty great, isn’t it?”

Hama nodded mutely, staring at the ocean below. 

“So Kuzon said he was gonna tell the prince that we went north-ish, right?” Hakoda asked, leaning over the front of the saddle to talk to Aang.

“Yeah,” Aang said, twisting around on Appa’s head. “So I was thinking instead of us  _ actually _ heading north for now, we should head east and  _ then _ north.”

Hakoda thought it over. “Smart,” he decided, “but I think we can be smarter.”

“How so?”

“Well we keep managing to outrun the Fire Nation, but what if we didn’t need to outrun them at all? Those princes are always in a boat when they’re chasing us, right? So let’s go further inland into the Earth Kingdom. They’ll have a harder time following us with mountains in the way!”

“Hakoda, you’re a genius,” Aang declared.

“Thanks, I try. I just hope it doesn’t make it too much longer to get to the North Pole.”

“Uh, it’ll probably add on a few weeks, since we won’t be using the airstreams so much,” Aang said. He tilted his head up a bit so he could see farther back on the saddle just as they passed by a cloud. Hama, in a fit of wonder, reached out with a skinny arm, and the entire mass of fluffy white vapor condensed into a globe of water that came to float in her hands. Bato and Kya were watching, transfixed. “But, uh, Hakoda,” Aang added quietly, “we...might not actually  _ have _ to go to the North Pole at this point.”

Hakoda blinked twice, and then his eyes widened. “Oh,” he said, looking pleasantly surprised. “You’re right.”

* * *

“What do you  _ mean _ you won’t teach me?”

“Exactly what I said. I won’t teach you.”

Aang gaped at her. He was aware that Hakoda, Kya, and Bato were also gaping at her. “But - but I  _ have _ to learn waterbending!”

“Thought that was why you were going to the North Pole.”

“We  _ were, _ but, well, now you’re here, so I thought you could teach me instead?”

“I can’t.”

Aang looked to his friends for backup.

“Aang’s the Avatar,” Kya said. “You  _ have _ to teach him.”

Hama snorted. “No, I don’t.”

“But - it would make things so much easier if you taught Aang,” Hakoda said. “You’re  _ right here, _ and you could start right away, and the Fire Nation thinks we’re still going north, they don’t know we found you. They’d have no idea we don’t have to go north anymore - we could go  _ anywhere _ while you teach Aang!”

“Home,” Bato put in, looking at Hama. “We could go  _ home.” _

A look of absolute horror crept over Hama’s face, and she shuddered.  _ “No,” _ she whispered, “absolutely  _ not.” _ And with that she turned around and walked to the other side of their campsite. 

The kids all exchanged glances.

“Uh,” said Bato, “maybe she’s just...surprised?”

“She  _ did _ just escape prison,” said Hakoda. “...wait, when  _ did _ she escape?”

“We can ask again later, Aang,” Kya said gently.

There was a noise from the other side of camp, and they all turned to see Hama rummaging through the supplies they’d brought from her island. There was no sense in wasting good food, and the Water Tribe kids had insisted on bringing all the ocean kumquats.

Hama wasn’t going for the ocean kumquats. She snatched up one of the jars and took a long drink from it.

“...much later,” Kya said, her eyes narrowing as she watched Hama.

* * *

“You okay, kid?”

Bato blinked and lifted his gaze from the water Hama was idly spinning around her fingers to meet her eyes. “Huh?”

“You’ve been staring at me for ten minutes.”

“Sorry,” he said, shifting against the saddle’s sideboard. “It’s just - I’d never  _ seen _ waterbending, before we met you. None of us have.”

Hama grimaced.

“Well, except for that time Aang went all glowy and wrecked Prince Ozai’s ship,” Hakoda added.

Hama snorted. “Would’ve loved to see that.”

Aang perked up. “You could! I mean, you’d how to show me how to do it first, I don’t remember, but - ”

“No,” Hama said.

Aang deflated. “Fine.” He heard Kya huff from where she sat on Appa’s head, reins in hand. Hama had gone back to swirling the water around her fingers, Bato and Hakoda watching in fascination. She didn’t notice that Aang was watching with less fascination, and more calculation.

* * *

“So...spying on Hama doesn’t look like it went well,” Bato said when Aang came back to camp completely soaked.

“Nope,” Aang sighed, calling up a sudden whirlwind to dry himself. “She wasn’t too happy.”

“Is she ever?” Kya grumbled.

“Maybe she’s just embarrassed, guys,” Aang said hopefully. “Maybe she’s not actually as good as your stories say?”

“You  _ saw _ the Fire Navy ship in the ice, Aang,” Hakoda said. “My mom says she did that, without much other help.”

“Okay, but she was a prisoner for ages, right? Maybe she forgot how!”

“She waterbends  _ a lot, _ Aang,” Kya said.

“...Forgot how to teach?”

“I think she forgot how to be a contributing member of society,” Kya huffed. Hakoda winced and Bato flinched - that was a terrible insult for a tribe member. “...Sorry, Bato,” Kya added quietly.

“No,” he said, shooting a guilty look towards the bushes that led down to the river. “You’re...probably not wrong.”

* * *

“You know, we wouldn’t have to deal with this if you’d just train Aang,” Hakoda snapped, when Bato had to steer Appa higher up and miles around yet another Fire Nation garrison. “It would be  _ so much easier. _ I thought water was all about taking the path of least resistance!”

Hama shot him an annoyed look. “Do  _ I _ look I’m going to be less resistant to this?”

Hakoda threw his hands in the air.  _ “Ugh.” _

* * *

Kya picked up the few remaining jars and threw them at the largest, hardest rock in the clearing. The pottery shattered, the alcohol trickled down into the dirt, and she turned a challenging glare towards Hama.

Hama watched dispassionately before turning and marching straight out of camp, down the hill, back towards the village they’d just gotten supplies from that afternoon.

She came stumbling back shortly after dawn, smelling like a tavern and looking more bedraggled than usual.

“Glad you’re back,” Kya said, not sounding very glad at all.

“Can you not do that again, please?” Bato asked, gentler.

Hama pointed a finger at him. Well, attempted to. “Don’t tell me what to do, kid.”

“What if we had to leave in a hurry and you weren’t here?” Hakoda asked, arms crossed. “We’d have to leave you behind.”

“Wouldn’t be much of a loss,” Kya muttered.

Hama smirked. “What she said.”

Kya snorted. Bato looked sad. Aang busied himself with loading their stuff on Appa.

Hakoda chewed his lower lip. “Hama,” he said, “if you want to leave, you can. You don’t  _ have _ to stay with us.”

Hama stared at him, swaying a little on her feet. “You want me to go?”

Hakoda looked to Kya and Bato. Kya still looked upset. Bato still looked sad. “We just want you to be okay.”

“Ha!” she barked, swaying farther. “Like that’s ever gonna happen.” She stumbled towards Appa and managed to climb up into the saddle on her third try.

* * *

“If she keeps getting drunk and sleeping all day, I swear to Amaroq - ”

“Kya,” Bato said quietly, “don’t.”

She was silent a moment. “I’m sorry, Bato. I know she’s your cousin, I just - ”

“No, you’re right,” he said tiredly. “But don’t swear to Amaroq.”

Kya was silent a moment. “We’re in the Earth Kingdom,” she said after a moment, trying for cheer. “I don’t think he could get me here.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever meet my cousin,” Bato said, shooting a look at the unconscious figure on the other side of the saddle. “Or that she’d be this much of a wreck.”

Kya put a hand on his shoulder.

* * *

Kya stared at Hakoda. “What did you  _ do?” _

“He tried to get the first fishhook out with another fishhook,” Bato said drily, pushing his friend down to sit on the ground.

“Guys I am  _ kind of in a lot of pain right now,” _ Hakoda ground out, his left hand clutching his right.

“Aang, get me a knife and the sewing kit,” Kya ordered.

Aang brought them over, looking queasy. “What are you gonna do?”

“The hooks are barbed,” Kya said, sticking the knife in the campfire to sterilize it, “so we’re gonna have to cut them out and sew his thumb back up.”

“Well,” said Aang, “that sounds...fun.”

“Gonna be a blast,” Bato said, holding a stick to Hakoda’s mouth. “You wanna bite on this?”

“Sure,” Hakoda grunted, “why not?” He took the stick between his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Crap, you got it in there deep,” Kya said, staring at his thumb. “Okay, hold still.”

Somewhere in the middle of all the screaming, a horrified voice asked, “What are you kids  _ doing?” _

Kya was busy with the knife and Bato was busy helping Hakoda hold still, so Aang whirled around to look at Hama. “Hakoda got fishhooks stuck in his thumb.”

_ “What?” _ Hama asked, and she strode forward. “Kid, how the hell did you manage  _ that?” _

Hakoda grunted.

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Hama asked.

“Little busy right now,” Kya snapped back.

Hama stared at the knife that was carefully digging into Hakoda’s thumb. “Kya,” she said, sounding firmer and more in control than they’d ever heard her, “stop.”

Kya froze, and she didn’t look up from her work, but she did glare a little harder at the cut she was making. “Why?”

“You’re going to slice his median nerve.”

“I dunno what that means but it sounds bad,” Hakoda managed around the stick in his mouth. “Is that bad?”

Kya’s eyes slid sideways to look at Hama. “So what do  _ you _ suggest I do?”

Hama raised her hand, and a globe of water followed. “Hold that knife  _ very still _ until I tell you otherwise.” The water coated her hand, spinning faster and faster until it started  _ glowing. _ The kids watched, dumbstruck, as Hama placed her hand over Hakoda’s.

Hakoda tensed up before immediately relaxing. “Holy tides,” he muttered, staring at the glowing water encasing his hand.

“Give me the knife,” Hama murmured, placing her other hand on the handle. Kya relinquished it, and Hama quickly repositioned the blade and cut into the skin.

“Ow! - oh,” Hakoda said. “Oh, that’s...really not so bad.”

The fishhooks floated to the surface of the glowing water, and Hama picked them up and tossed them and the knife aside. “Hold still, I’m not done yet,” she muttered, the water still spinning. “Have to make sure you don’t have nerve damage. Or get an infection.”

“What about a scar?”

Hama raised her eyebrows at him. “Do you  _ want _ a scar?”

“Uh…” Hakoda looked to Bato and Kya, who looked unimpressed. With him, not with Hama. “This would be a stupid thing to get a scar over, I guess.”

Hama snorted and went back to focusing on the water. There wasn’t a scar when she was done - just perfectly smooth skin that showed no signs of having been impaled just minutes ago.

“Wow,” Hakoda said, staring at his hand. Bato and Kya were similarly awed.

Hama just sighed and leaned back. “Feel better?”

“Are you  _ kidding?” _ Hakoda yelped. “That was - I can’t  _ believe _ \- ”

“Our parents told us about waterbending healers,” Bato said quietly. “I thought they were exaggerating.”

Aang was more exuberant. “That was  _ amazing!” _ he said. “I didn’t know whater could do that! You’ve  _ got _ to teach me!”

Hama rolled her eyes. “You already know the answer to that.”

“Not even  _ healing?” _ Aang begged. “Come on, that’s so useful! I could do so much good with healing!”

Hama’s expression shuttered. “No,” she said. “I’m not teaching you.”

* * *

“Why didn’t you ever come home?” Bato asked, staring up at the clouds. Sky bison were massive, and one-hundred-year-old saddles were equally large to accommodate whatever nomads might travel in them, so he was lying on his back, his feet kicked up on the front of the saddle, and staring up at the depths of the bright blue sky.

Hama shifted beside him.

“We missed you,” Bato added. “We needed you.”

“I left to keep the tribe safe,” Hama said, also looking up. She was lying in the opposite direction he was, her feet resting by their supplies, but their heads were right beside each other. “I wasn’t going to make you unsafe.”

“The Fire Nation never even came looking for you.”

“Probably because they figured out I hadn’t gone that far.”

“Do they even realize you escaped?”

“The guards were certainly aware.”

“Did anyone ever come after you?”

Hama thought a moment. “You know,” she said, “in all the time I spent lurking around towns and villages...I never did see a wanted poster.”

“Did the prison not report your escape?”

Hama shrugged. “They probably didn’t want to panic people.”

“So...why didn’t you come home?”

“To keep the tribe safe,” she said tiredly.

“We  _ needed _ you,” Bato whispered.

Hama seemed to not have heard him. “Hey, you kids know your spirit tales, right?”

“Uh,” said Bato, whose grandfather had been a shaman, “yeah?”

“Great,” said Hama, “I’ve missed hearing a good story, feels like I’ve forgotten half of them. Can you tell me the one about the wendigo that terrorized the Glacier Tribe a few generations ago? It’s been a while since I heard that one.”

“...Okay,” said Bato, confused, but he started slowly speaking the old story that’d been passed down to him by his grandfather. It didn’t feel the same, coming from his lips - the cadence felt all wrong, he hadn’t actually told this one himself before, but he remembered the turns of phrase Grandpa had used in the telling, and after years of playing pranks with Hakoda he was able to at least manage the spooky voices. The story unfolded, telling the tale of an unusually harsh winter and a man so desperate for survival that he killed and ate the members of his hunting party. No longer human, he’d spent years roaming the tundra as a dark spirit motivated only by greed and hunger and terrorizing the Glacier Tribe and any others unfortunate enough to cross his path. It was a gruesome tale, but an important one. A warning and a reminder of the importance of community. Hakoda and Kya were sitting by the edge of the saddle, and Bato watched them relax while the tale was told. Even Aang, seated on Appa’s head, turned around a few times to better listen.

Hama just continued staring up at the sky, looking grim. Bato finished the story, telling how it took several Waterbender shamans to put the wendigo out of its misery and protect their tribe, and Hama just nodded.

“I thought that was how it went,” she said quietly, and then she rolled over and didn’t say anything until they landed for the evening.

* * *

“...You okay, Aang?”

Aang sighed and kicked at the pond they were camping beside. “It’s a slippery element. I can’t figure out how to get a handle on it.”

Kya sat down beside him, dipping her feet in the water. “It  _ is _ slippery,” she said tiredly.

“Hama’s still not saying how she escaped, huh?”

“Nope. Guess she has to be a lot drunker to talk about  _ that,” _ Kya said darkly. “I was really hoping Hakoda would get her talking, too.”

“She definitely has a soft spot for him,” Aang said, shooting Kya a grin. “We still aren’t telling him  _ why, _ right?”

Kya snorted. “Nope. I am savoring his obliviousness.”

Aang laughed. “I just want to see his face when he realizes.”

“He’s so smart,” Kya sighed. “Unless it involves considering his mother’s love life, apparently.” She looked at the sunset on the far side of the pond. “I guess I can understand why people don’t bother thinking about certain things. Or why they don’t want to.”

Aang gave her a sad look and wrapped an arm around her. “She’ll talk about it eventually, Kya,” he said.

Her hands balled into fists. “I wish she’d talk about it  _ now. _ I want to know what that prison is like and where it is and how she did it.”

“She made it sound like it wasn’t something that could be repeated.”

“Yeah, but now she’s met  _ us. _ Hakoda’s smart, Bato and I are good fighters, she’s a master Waterbender, and you’re the  _ Avatar.” _ She glared at the setting sun, blinking furiously.

“I’m sorry, Kya,” Aang said softly.

She wiped her eyes. “I just want to meet my grandfather.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, Hama's a mess, but I guess she's _their_ mess? Kinda? Anyway, now that I've established what a wreck she is I can work on getting her better, lol.
> 
> Oh, wait, we still have the bloodbending reveal to get to. Hm.


End file.
